Volume Decorrelation and Signal Penetration in Interferometric BIOMASS Data over Ice Sheets

Abstract

The unique characteristics of ESA's BIOMASS mission provide promising secondary applications, including the derivation of glacier and ice sheet subsurface information, due to its polarimetric and interferometric SAR capabilities at P band. This paper explores the potential for ice sheet structure information in Antarctica from interferometric BIOMASS data. An initial assessment of the expected volume decorrelation and signal penetration depths for different subsurface structures, such as the percolation zone and dry snow zone, is derived from airborne P-band data and scattering modeling. First polarimetric and interferometric impressions from preliminary BIOMASS data are discussed, where the general relationship between scattering mechanisms, volume decorrelation and assumed subsurface structure follows the expectations. However, as expected, some observations are also puzzling or even contradicting the actual understanding and raise interesting research questions that will be investigated. The first results indicate that P-band signal penetration into the Antarctic ice sheet shows significant variations, depending mainly on the presence of dielectric interfaces such as refrozen melt layers.