Estimation of Arctic land-fast ice cover based on dual-polarized Sentinel-1 SAR imagery

Abstract

Here a method for estimating the land-fast ice (LFI) extent from dual-polarized Sentinel-1 SAR mosaics of an Arctic study area over the Kara and Barents seas is presented. The method is based on temporal cross-correlation between adjacent daily SAR mosaics. The results are compared to the LFI of the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) ice charts. Two versions of the method were studied: in the first version (FMI-A) the overall performance was optimized, and in the second version (FMI-B) the target was a low LFI misdetection rate. FMI-A detected over 73 % of the AARI ice chart LFI, and FMI-B a little over 50 % of the AARI ice chart LFI. During the winter months the detection rates were higher than during the melt-down season for both the studied algorithm versions. An LFI time series covering the time period from October 2015 to the end of August 2017 computed using the proposed methodology is provided on the FMI ftp server. The time series will be extended twice annually.