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Figure 1. PSR data for 37 GHz horizontal polarization taken during the only P-3 flight line completed during the 2003 campaign. |
Antarctic AMSR-E Sea Ice (AASI) Experiment
Because there are no outer land boundaries that limit the growth
and advance of sea ice in the region, the Antarctic sea ice cover
is different from that in the Arctic. In winter, the ice cover
expands from the outer boundary of Antarctica until atmospheric and
oceanic forces limit its northward advance, while in the spring and
summer, the ice retreats rapidly because of its vulnerability to
atmospheric and oceanic heat and wave action. The sea ice cover is
expansive in winter and the changes with season are dramatic. The
microwave emissivity of the surface is thus very variable spatially.
Such variations in emissivity in different seasons and under different
weather conditions must be studied in detail because they affect the
performance of the sea ice algorithms used in interpretation of the
AMSR-E microwave radiometer data.
Since the advent of microwave remote sensing, there has been no
airborne passive microwave sea ice flight program over the Antarctic.
AASI experiment was aimed at providing the much needed aircraft remote
sensing data set for the region. Aircraft microwave radiometer data are
needed for validation of AMSR-E radiometer measurements because they
provide intermediate resolution and spatial coverage that enables accurate
interpretation of the satellite data.
NOAA's Environmental Technology Laboratory has developed the first
wideband airborne polarimetric microwave imaging radiometer, the
Polarimetric Scanning Radiometer (PSR) to provide comprehensive validation
of all AMSR-E bands. The AASI campaign was to be conducted out of Punta
Arenas from August 23 to September 6. The first research flight began on
August 25, 2003 but it had to be aborted due to aircraft problems.
A repeat of this experiment occured 14-24 October 2004.
Figure
1 shows PSR data for 37 GHz horizontal polarization taken during the
P-3 2003 flight line. Indeed, the expected high variability in the
surface emissivity measurements is revealed.
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