Polarimetric Decomposition of L-Band PolSAR Backscattering Over the Austfonna Ice Cap

Modeling Multifrequency Pol-InSAR Data From the Percolation Zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet

“…At L-band the minima at VV are lower than at HH, which means, according to (11), that the | − | layer difference is smaller at VV. The second coherence maximum is almost equal in HH and VV, which implies that the sum of layer-to-volume ratios ∑ is similar, according to (10). L-band shows also a higher order undulation which may indicate the presence of a third layer.…”

“…Based on polarimetric studies that indicated the sensitivity of polarimetric backscatter to glacier zones [6] [7], first polarimetric models considered ice lenses and glands as the main scattering contributions [8]. Further advances in polarimetric modelling improved the ability to describe the subsurface of an ice cap in Svalbard [9] [10]. However, PolSAR measurements cannot resolve the vertical distribution of the scattering contributions.…”

“…Despite this, the existing approaches are still very limited in the interpretation of Pol-InSAR data [18] [19] and therefore also in the retrieval of geophysical information, since the combination of a uniform volume and scattering from the surface has only limited flexibility to represent different scattering scenarios from glaciers and ice sheets. Recent polarimetric studies improved the understanding of anisotropic propagation behavior of snow [20] and firn [10], and investigated the polarimetric scattering characteristics from oriented particles within the firn volume [10]. This overcomes assumptions made in earlier Pol-InSAR studies [16] about scattering from sastrugi, which is only applicable to specific areas if acquired under certain radar aspect angles.…”

“…At these values it is fair to assume that the volume coherence is very close to zero. In this case, we can directly infer the sum of layer ratios from the plots, see Table I, through (10). The HV layer scattering ratios are by a factor of 1.7-2.9 lower than at copol channels, while HH and VV are very similar.…”

Radar Backscatter Modeling Based on Global TanDEM-X Mission Data

“…the characterization of radar backscatter of ice-covered areas in Greenland by I. Ashcraft and D. Long in [88], carried out by analyzing data from the NASA scatterometer NSCAT and from the C-band ERS satellite, or the backscatter modeling for river ice from I. Gherboudj et al in [89]. More recently, Parrella et al investigated L-band polarimetric SAR data from the E-SAR airborne sensor of the German Aerospace Center, associating different scattering models to specific glacier facies [90].…”