Assessment of Simulated Compact Polarimetry of the High Resolution Radarsat Constellation Mission SAR Mode for Multiyear and First Year Sea Ice Characterization

Abstract

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) remote sensing has become a valuable tool for sea ice characterization. Operational sea ice monitoring usually relies on SAR data from single- or dual-polarized beam modes such as the ScanSAR mode of RADARSAT-2. However, such imagery cannot accurately discriminate certain sea ice types and open water states at all times during the year. Thus, the recently proposed compact polarimetric (CP) SAR configuration for Earth observation could be a compromised choice for operational sea ice observation. This configuration will be included in the future RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM). In this study, simulated CP SAR data of the RCM High Resolution (HR) SAR mode is evaluated for sea ice classification. Results indicate promising performance of the RCM HR mode for First Year Ice (FYI) and Multiyear Ice (MYI) classification using CP SAR data.