Assessment of Seasonal Sea Ice Type and Roughness Regime Discrimination Using a Unique C- and L-Band SAR Database

To date some studies have outlined the benefits of low-frequency L-band synthetic aperture radar, compared to C-band and higher frequencies, for discriminating Arctic sea ice types during melting conditions. This is due to the higher penetration depth of L-band energy through wet snow and ice, yielding radar backscatter information more closely related to internal ice structure variations. In this study we utilize a database of seasonally varying C- and L-band SAR radar backscatter coefficients and polarimetric parameters from RADARSAT-2 and ALOS-2/PALSAR-2, and field measured variables including airborne measured ice thickness and roughness, to detail first-year and multiyear sea ice type discrimination capabilities during sub-stages within the seasonal melting period. Included in the evaluation is sea ice information for twenty C-band compact polarimetry (CP) parameters, in anticipation of the launch of the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM). CP parameters were simulated from the fully polarimetric data collected from RADARSAT-2.