Evaluating landfast sea ice ridging near UtqiagVik Alaska Using TanDEM-X interferometry

• Seasonal landfast sea ice stretches along most Arctic coastlines and serves as a platform for community travel and subsistence, industry operations, and as a habitat for marine mammals. Landfast ice can feature smooth ice and areas of m-scale roughness in the form of pressure ridges. Such ridges can significantly hamper trafficability, but if grounded can also serve to stabilize the shoreward ice. We investigate the use of synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) to assess the formation and movement of ridges in the landfast sea ice near Utqiagvik, Alaska. The evaluation is based on the InSAR-derived surface elevation change between two TanDEM-X bistatic image pairs acquired during January 2012. We compare the results with backscatter intensity, coastal radar data, and SAR-derived ice drift and evaluate the utility of this approach and its relevance for evaluation of ridge properties, as well as landfast sea ice evolution, dynamics, and stability. © 2020 by the authors.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Naturresursteknik -- Fjärranalysteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Environmental Engineering -- Remote Sensing (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Meteorologi och atmosfärforskning (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Multidisciplinär geovetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Geosciences, Multidisciplinary (hsv//eng)

Keyword

TanDEM-X

Synthetic aperture radar

InSAR

Landfast sea ice

Sea ice

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)