Mapping arctic landfast ice extent using L-band synthetic aperture radar interferometry

In recent years methods have been developed to extract the seaward landfast ice edge from series of remote sensing images, with most of them relying on incoherent change detection in optical, infrared, or radar amplitude imagery. While such approaches provide valuable results, some still lack the required level of robustness and all lack the ability to fully automate the detection and mapping of landfast ice over large areas and long time spans. This paper introduces an alternative approach to mapping landfast ice extent that is based on coherent processing of interferometric L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data. The approach is based on a combined interpretation of interferometric phase pattern and interferometric coherence images to extract the extent and stability of landfast ice. Due to the low complexity of the base imagery used for landfast ice extraction, significant improvements in automation and reduction of required manual interactions by operators can be achieved. A performance analysis shows that L-band interferometric SAR (InSAR) data enable the mapping of landfast ice with high robustness and accuracy for a wide range of environmental conditions.

► Landfast sea ice remains coherent in L-band InSAR data over at least 46 days.
► An automated method to map landfast ice was developed and successfully validated.
► L-band SAR interferometry also shows promise for investigating landfast ice motion.
► L-band InSAR can increase insight into how landfast ice reacts to dynamic forcing.
► Upcoming low-frequency SARs will provide improved spatial and temporal sampling.