Abstract
The perennial ice concentration in the Beaufort Sea was examined using active- and passive-microwave observations. We compared the ice type and concentration estimates from SSM/I and ERS-1 SAR data over a seasonal cycle from January 1992 to January 1993. It was found the multi-year (MY) ice-concentration estimates from the SAR data were very stable and were nearly equivalent to the ice concentration estimated at the end of the previous summer. We contrast this with the variability of the MY ice-concentration and ice-fraction estimates obtained using the NASA Team algorithm. The passive- and active-microwave algorithms provide total ice concentrations that are comparable during the winter, hut the passive estimates are significantly lower during the summer. Passive-microwave estimates of multi-year-ice concentrations are consistently lower (up to 30%) than those from the SAR data. We discuss reasons for these discrepancies and the possible biases introduced by the active and passive algorithms.
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