Geography

Dual-polarized ratio algorithm for retrieving Arctic sea ice concentration from passive microwave brightness temperature

Document Type

Article

Abstract

We present a new algorithm for retrieving sea ice concentration from the AMSR-E data, the dual-polarized ratio (DPR) algorithm. The DPR algorithm is developed using vertically and horizontally polarized brightness temperatures at the same channel of 36.5 GHz. It depends on the ratio of dual-polarized emissivity, α, which is determined empirically at about 0.92 by remotely sensed brightness temperature in winter and used for the other seasons as well. The ice concentration retrieved by the DPR is compared with those by the NT2 and ABA algorithms. Since the main difference among these algorithms takes place in marginal ice zones, 17 marginal ice zones are chosen. The retrieved ice concentrations in these zones are examined by the ice concentration obtained by the MODIS data. The mean error, root-mean-square error and mean absolute error of the DPR algorithm are relatively better than those from the other two algorithms. The results of this study illustrate that the DPR algorithm is a more accurate algorithm for retrieving sea ice concentration from the AMSR-E brightness temperature, and can be used for operational purposes. © 2013 The Oceanographic Society of Japan and Springer Japan.

Publication Title

Journal of Oceanography

Publication Date

2013

Volume

69

Issue

2

First Page

215

Last Page

227

ISSN

0916-8370

DOI

10.1007/s10872-012-0167-z

Keywords

AMSR-E, Arctic, brightness temperature, dual-polarized ratio algorithm, ice concentration

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