Retrieval of Firn Thickness by Means of Polarisation Phase Differences in L-Band SAR Data

The knowledge of glacier zones’ extent and their temporal variations is fundamental for the retrieval of surface mass balance of glaciers and ice sheets. In this context, a key parameter is the firn line (FL), the lower boundary of the percolation zone, whose location is an indicator of time-integra...

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Autores principales:	Giuseppe Parrella, Irena Hajnsek, Konstantinos P. Papathanassiou
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	Synthetic Aperture Radar polarimetry differential propagation firn anisotropy Greenland Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/e1025195a88c4d41bc494c28ecfd1ecd
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:e1025195a88c4d41bc494c28ecfd1ecd2021-11-11T18:57:10ZRetrieval of Firn Thickness by Means of Polarisation Phase Differences in L-Band SAR Data10.3390/rs132144482072-4292https://doaj.org/article/e1025195a88c4d41bc494c28ecfd1ecd2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/21/4448https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292The knowledge of glacier zones’ extent and their temporal variations is fundamental for the retrieval of surface mass balance of glaciers and ice sheets. In this context, a key parameter is the firn line (FL), the lower boundary of the percolation zone, whose location is an indicator of time-integrated mass balance changes. Several approaches have been developed in the last decades to map the FL by means of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery, mainly exploiting backscatter intensities and their seasonal variation. In this paper, an alternative approach is proposed, based on co-polarisation phase differences (CPDs). In particular, CPDs are interpreted as the result of propagation through anisotropic firn layers and are, therefore, proposed as an indicator of the presence of firn. A model is employed to demonstrate the link between CPDs and firn depth, indicating the potential of polarimetric SAR to improve firn characterization beyond spatial extent and FL detection. The proposed approach is demonstrated on L-band airborne data, acquired on 21 May 2015 by the F-SAR sensor of DLR in West Greenland during the ARCTIC15 campaign, and validated with in-situ information available from other studies.Giuseppe ParrellaIrena HajnsekKonstantinos P. PapathanassiouMDPI AGarticleSynthetic Aperture Radarpolarimetrydifferential propagationfirn anisotropyGreenlandScienceQENRemote Sensing, Vol 13, Iss 4448, p 4448 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Synthetic Aperture Radar polarimetry differential propagation firn anisotropy Greenland Science Q
spellingShingle	Synthetic Aperture Radar polarimetry differential propagation firn anisotropy Greenland Science Q Giuseppe Parrella Irena Hajnsek Konstantinos P. Papathanassiou Retrieval of Firn Thickness by Means of Polarisation Phase Differences in L-Band SAR Data
description	The knowledge of glacier zones’ extent and their temporal variations is fundamental for the retrieval of surface mass balance of glaciers and ice sheets. In this context, a key parameter is the firn line (FL), the lower boundary of the percolation zone, whose location is an indicator of time-integrated mass balance changes. Several approaches have been developed in the last decades to map the FL by means of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery, mainly exploiting backscatter intensities and their seasonal variation. In this paper, an alternative approach is proposed, based on co-polarisation phase differences (CPDs). In particular, CPDs are interpreted as the result of propagation through anisotropic firn layers and are, therefore, proposed as an indicator of the presence of firn. A model is employed to demonstrate the link between CPDs and firn depth, indicating the potential of polarimetric SAR to improve firn characterization beyond spatial extent and FL detection. The proposed approach is demonstrated on L-band airborne data, acquired on 21 May 2015 by the F-SAR sensor of DLR in West Greenland during the ARCTIC15 campaign, and validated with in-situ information available from other studies.
format	article
author	Giuseppe Parrella Irena Hajnsek Konstantinos P. Papathanassiou
author_facet	Giuseppe Parrella Irena Hajnsek Konstantinos P. Papathanassiou
author_sort	Giuseppe Parrella
title	Retrieval of Firn Thickness by Means of Polarisation Phase Differences in L-Band SAR Data
title_short	Retrieval of Firn Thickness by Means of Polarisation Phase Differences in L-Band SAR Data
title_full	Retrieval of Firn Thickness by Means of Polarisation Phase Differences in L-Band SAR Data
title_fullStr	Retrieval of Firn Thickness by Means of Polarisation Phase Differences in L-Band SAR Data
title_full_unstemmed	Retrieval of Firn Thickness by Means of Polarisation Phase Differences in L-Band SAR Data
title_sort	retrieval of firn thickness by means of polarisation phase differences in l-band sar data
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/e1025195a88c4d41bc494c28ecfd1ecd
work_keys_str_mv	AT giuseppeparrella retrievaloffirnthicknessbymeansofpolarisationphasedifferencesinlbandsardata AT irenahajnsek retrievaloffirnthicknessbymeansofpolarisationphasedifferencesinlbandsardata AT konstantinosppapathanassiou retrievaloffirnthicknessbymeansofpolarisationphasedifferencesinlbandsardata
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Retrieval of Firn Thickness by Means of Polarisation Phase Differences in L-Band SAR Data

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