Parrella, Giuseppe and Hajnsek, Irena and Papathanassiou, Konstantinos (2021) Retrieval of firn thickness by means of polarisation phase differences in L-band SAR data. Remote Sensing. Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI). doi: 10.3390/rs13214448. ISSN 2072-4292.
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Abstract
The knowledge of ice zones extent and their temporal variations is fundamental for the retrieval of surface mass balance of glaciers and ice sheets. In this context, a key parameter is the firn line (FL), the lower boundary of the firn zone, whose location is an indicator of time-integrated mass balance changes. Several approaches have been developed in the last decades to map the FL by means of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery, mainly exploiting backscatter intensities and their seasonal variations. In this paper, an alternative approach is proposed, based on co-polarization phase differences (CPDs). In particular, CPDs are interpreted as the result of propagation through anisotropic firn layers and are, therefore, proposed as an indicator of the presence of firn. A model is employed to demonstrate the link between CPDs and firn depth, indicating the potential of polarimetric SAR to improve firn characterization beyond spatial extent and FL detection. The proposed approach is demonstrated on L-band airborne data acquired by the F-SAR sensor of DLR in West Greenland during the ARCTIC15 campaign and validated with in-situ reference information available from other studies.
Item URL in elib: | https://elib.dlr.de/143425/ | ||||||||||||||||
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Document Type: | Article | ||||||||||||||||
Title: | Retrieval of firn thickness by means of polarisation phase differences in L-band SAR data | ||||||||||||||||
Authors: |
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Date: | 2021 | ||||||||||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Remote Sensing | ||||||||||||||||
Refereed publication: | Yes | ||||||||||||||||
Open Access: | Yes | ||||||||||||||||
Gold Open Access: | Yes | ||||||||||||||||
In SCOPUS: | Yes | ||||||||||||||||
In ISI Web of Science: | Yes | ||||||||||||||||
DOI: | 10.3390/rs13214448 | ||||||||||||||||
Publisher: | Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) | ||||||||||||||||
ISSN: | 2072-4292 | ||||||||||||||||
Status: | Published | ||||||||||||||||
Keywords: | Synthetic Aperture Radar, polarimetric, polarimetric phase difference, polar firn, Greenland | ||||||||||||||||
HGF - Research field: | Aeronautics, Space and Transport | ||||||||||||||||
HGF - Program: | Space | ||||||||||||||||
HGF - Program Themes: | Earth Observation | ||||||||||||||||
DLR - Research area: | Raumfahrt | ||||||||||||||||
DLR - Program: | R EO - Earth Observation | ||||||||||||||||
DLR - Research theme (Project): | R - Polarimetric SAR Interferometry HR | ||||||||||||||||
Location: | Oberpfaffenhofen | ||||||||||||||||
Institutes and Institutions: | Microwaves and Radar Institute > Radar Concepts | ||||||||||||||||
Deposited By: | Parrella, Dr. sc. Giuseppe | ||||||||||||||||
Deposited On: | 05 Aug 2021 13:52 | ||||||||||||||||
Last Modified: | 11 Jan 2022 08:56 |
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