OCEANSAT-1 MSMR and the emissivity of ice in Antarctica

The data from OCEANSAT-1 MSMR in the passive microwave region have been analyzed to estimate the ice surface emissivities (/spl epsiv/) over Antarctica. The Indian Station Maitri (70/spl deg/45' S, 11/spl deg/45' E) was chosen for the first case study. The brightness temperatures (T/sub b/) were retrieved over Maitri from the satellite data at 18 and 21 GHz for both the V and the H polarizations. The in situ measurements of the ice surface temperatures (Tp) were collected by the Indian scientists stationed at Maitri. The T/sub b/, and the Tp values were used to derive the /spl epsiv/ values. The results show that the estimated /spl epsiv/ values are in good agreement with the expected values, thereby confirming that the MSMR data can be used for mapping the surface emissivity of the ice-sheets in Antarctica to a reasonable degree of accuracy.