Determining Iceberg Scattering Mechanisms in Greenland Using Quad Pol ALOS-2 SAR Data

Citation

Bailey J, Marino A & Akbari V (2021) Determining Iceberg Scattering Mechanisms in Greenland Using Quad Pol ALOS-2 SAR Data. In: 2021 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium IGARSS. IGARSS 2021 - 2021 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Brussels, Belgium, 11.07.2021-16.07.2021. Piscataway, NJ, USA: IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/igarss47720.2021.9553540

Abstract
Iceberg properties, together with meteorological and environmental conditions can influence Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) backscatter behaviours. In this work, we used five images of quad-pol ALOS-2/PALSAR-2 SAR data to analyse icebergs in Greenland. We investigate the scattering mechanisms through several observables and decompositions. Our results show that the most common scattering mechanisms for icebergs is surface scattering and volume scattering. Sometimes double bounce is also observed. By performing a multi-scale analysis using boxcar 5×5 and 11×11 window sizes, we conclude that icebergs can be a collection of strong scatterers. This gives hope for using quad-pol polarimetry to provide some iceberg classifications in the future.

Keywords
Geometry; Liquids; Shape; Green products; Scattering; Geoscience and remote sensing; Radar polarimetry