The potential of TerraSAR-X to observe wind wave interaction at the ice edge

Gebhardt C, Bidlot JR, Jacobsen S, Lehner S, Persson POG, Pleskachevsky AL (2017)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2017

Journal

IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Book Volume: 10

Pages Range: 2799-2809

Article Number: 7895126

Journal Issue: 6

DOI: 10.1109/JSTARS.2017.2652124

Abstract

This paper performs a study on sea state and wind fields at the ice edge boundary by utilizing information from different sources including synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite imagery, weather and sea state analyses from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, shipborne in-situ measurements, and AMSR2 ice charts. The basis is a Stripmap scene from the TerraSAR-X satellite acquired on October 18, 2015, at ∼18 UTC, in support of the cruise of the research vessel R/V Sikuliaq in the Beaufort/Chukchi Sea. This scene covers an area with a length of more than 100km and comprises both the marginal ice zone and, for the largest part, open water. The wave and windfieldisretrieved from satellite at high spatial resolution using empirical retrieval algorithms. These algorithms are XWAVE and XMOD-2 specifically developed for X-Band SAR. XWAVE allows for determining the significant wave height not only for long swell waves, but also for short waves with their wave pattern being hardly visible from SAR. The latter is based on the analysis of image spectrum parameters and spectral noise. As well, the possibility of the imaging quality of longer waves visible from SAR being affected by SAR-specific nonlinear imaging effects is narrowed down. Both the wave and wind field are found to exhibit considerable spatial variability, and their relationship is analyzed. The relevance of the findings of this study with respect to wave/ice modeling is discussed.

Involved external institutions

Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR) / German Aerospace Center DE Germany (DE) European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) GB United Kingdom (GB) University of Colorado at Boulder US United States (USA) (US)

How to cite

APA:

Gebhardt, C., Bidlot, J.R., Jacobsen, S., Lehner, S., Persson, P.O.G., & Pleskachevsky, A.L. (2017). The potential of TerraSAR-X to observe wind wave interaction at the ice edge. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 10(6), 2799-2809. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2017.2652124

MLA:

Gebhardt, Claus, et al. "The potential of TerraSAR-X to observe wind wave interaction at the ice edge." IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing 10.6 (2017): 2799-2809.

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