Satellite-Based Iceberg Detection Confidence

Satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data are becoming increasingly valuable for marine operations in ice-affected environments. There are growing varieties of satellites, beam modes and other sensor parameters that are available, so there is a need to develop a universal method to compare the performance of satellite imagery for a given application. This paper introduces the concept of a confidence map for iceberg detection for the safety and efficiency of marine activities. By comparing the characteristics of a set of validated iceberg targets in SAR data with a new image, it is possible to assess what proportion of icebergs in a region may be detected. While the results are intuitive, they quantify the performance of satellite data for iceberg monitoring