Determining Iceberg Scattering Mechanisms in Greenland Using Quad Pol ALOS-2 SAR Data

Iceberg properties, together with meteorological and environmental conditions can influence Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) backscatter behaviours. In this work, we used five images of quad-pol ALOS-2/PALSAR-2 SAR data to analyse icebergs in Greenland. We investigate the scattering mechanisms through several observables and decompositions. Our results show that the most common scattering mechanisms for icebergs is surface scattering and volume scattering. Sometimes double bounce is also observed. By performing a multi-scale analysis using boxcar
$5 \times 5$
and
$11 \times 11$
window sizes, we conclude that icebergs can be a collection of strong scatterers. This gives hope for using quad-pol polarimetry to provide some iceberg classifications in the future.