A Study on the Sea-Ice Signature of the South Polar Region Using Synthetic Aperture Radar

This paper presents the computation of sigma naught from SAR images over Antarctica region and analysis of backscattered signatures across the austral summer and winter seasons of the year. The backscattered imagery is further classified into different zones of snow, melting snow and water around coast line of Indian Research Base, Bharati Station at Larrsemen Hills, Antarctica. These classified results are compared with the then prevailing ground conditions and summarized. This study emphasizes the use of SAR imagery for ice-melt dynamics and ice-type discrimination in all weather conditions of Antarctica regions which is mostly cloud covered throughout the year.