Validation of SSM/I sea ice concentration algorithms for the Okhotsk Sea

Satellite passive microwave radiometers, such as SSM/I, can observe sea ice distribution at global scale. Two sea ice concentration algorithms, namely the NASA Team algorithm and the Bootstrap algorithm were compared for the Okhotsk Sea. Though the correlation coefficient of the two ice concentrations were 0.97, the Bootstrap ice concentrations were mostly higher than the NASA Team ice concentrations. In some seasons, the ice concentrations of a particular sea ice area appeared to be much higher for the Bootstrap compared with the NASA Team algorithm. The difference suggested the sea ice condition difference of the area. The reduction of weather/land effects by both algorithms were not as much as expected. The land filter developed by the authors could effectively reduce the land effect.