Interrelations Between Structural Characteristics, Physical Properties, and SAR Signatures of Late-Summer Pack Ice in the Beaufort-Chukchi Sea

本项目研究的是北极温暖海冰的组成和性质，以及相关的合成孔径雷达（SAR）特征。1992年夏末和1993年夏末，美国海岸警卫队的破冰船将在波弗特海和楚科奇海进行直接测量。要研究的海冰特征将包括厚度、盐度和温度分布、介电特性、晶体结构和表面条件。这些特征将用于模拟预期的微波后向散射强度，并将其与ERS-1和JERS-1卫星上的SAR仪器获得的观测后向散射强度进行比较。该项目将有助于更好地了解北极浮冰的内部结构、温暖海冰的特定夏季特性以及不同冰特性产生的SAR特征变化。这项研究所产生的资料预计在极地海洋学研究的其他领域特别有价值，例如海冰动力学和热力学、冰力学和流变学、海洋热和盐通量以及海冰生物过程。

This project is a study of the composition and properties, as well as the associated synthetic aperture radar (SAR) signatures of warm arctic sea ice. Direct measurements will be made from US Coast Guard icebreakers in the late summers of 1992 and 1993 in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. Sea ice characteristics to be investigated will include thickness, salinity and temperature profiles, dielectric properties, crystal structure, and surface conditions. These characteristics will be used to model the expected microwave backscatter intensities, which will be compared to observed backscatter intensities obtained by the SAR instruments on board the ERS-1 and JERS-1 satellites. The project will contribute to an improved understanding of the internal structure of arctic pack ice, of the specific summer properties of warm sea ice, and SAR signature variations produced by differing ice characteristics. The information produced by this study is expected to be particularly valuable in other fields of polar oceanographic research, such as sea ice dynamics and thermodynamics, ice mechanics and rheology, oceanic heat and salt fluxes, and sea ice biological processes.