Seasonal variations in active microwave signatures of sea ice in the Greenland Sea during 1992 and 1993

Derivations of the microwave signatures of sea ice have often been focused on the backscatter coefficient /spl sigma//sup 0/. It is well known that /spl sigma//sup 0/ is rather stable during winter and varies a lot during summer due to the complex mechanisms related to melting. However, less work has been carried out into the research of other statistical features of the sea ice than the mean value and also their seasonal variations. This paper investigates the backscatter coefficient and texture of different sea ice types and water by using calibrated precision images (PRI) acquired by the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) on board the ERS-1 satellite. Seasonal variations have been related to the meteorological conditions and the radar system parameters.