Application of the dense medium radiative transfer theory for calculating microwave emissivities of different sea ice types

Abstract

The dense medium radiative transfer theory (DMRT) was used to calculate microwave emissivities of different undeformed sea ice types in the Arctic and Antarctic. The computed results were compared with measurements. More often taken for describing snow, we show that the DMRT can be applied to both sea ice and snow cover. While doing so the choice of appropriate parameters needed in the DMRT is discussed. As a result a multi-layered, uniform model for a variety of sea ice types including snow cover is obtained.