3D mapping of icebergs in sea ice with TanDEM-X interferomery

Mapping iceberg locations and geometrical parameters is important for marine operational applications and climate science. The innovative TanDEM-X mission (TDM) was used for 3D mapping of icebergs in sea ice with the single-pass SAR interferometry (InSAR) method. The extracted digital elevation model (DEM) from TDM InSAR data over icebergs in sea ice was compared to a DEM generated from very-high-resolution (VHR) electro-optical stereo data. The comparison demonstrated a good correspondence between the electro-optical and InSAR-derived DEMs. A significant decrease in root-mean-squared error (RMSE) was achieved after applying spatial filtering. The resulting RMSE for the areas with selected icebergs in sea ice was 2 m.