Detection of sea ice motion from co- and cross-polarization RADARSAT-2 images

In this study we used our automated sea ice motion tracking algorithm - that operates with two sequential Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images - to investigate capabilities of HH and HV channels of RADARSAT-2 ScanSAR imagery for ice motion detection. We analyzed ice motion tracking results derived from 10 dual-polarization RADARSAT-2 images and formulated a condition where the HV channel is more reliable than the HH channel for ice tracking. Furthermore, we found that the ice motion tracking from the HV channel is not affected by noise floor stripes, which are prominent in the cross-polarization RADARSAT-2 ScanSAR images.