IMPROVED DETECTION OF ICEBERGS IN SEA ICE WITH RADARSAT-2 POLARIMETRIC DATA

Information on icebergs and ice islands is important for climate science and for various marine operations in Arctic and Antarctic. This work investigates capabilities of RADARSAT-2 polarimetric data for detection of icebergs in sea ice. Several iceberg detectors were analyzed with the full polarimetric data acquired in Fine Quad and Fine Quad Wide modes. The results of iceberg detection were validated with the information extracted from very high and medium resolution electro-optical satellite data including stereo datasets. It was demonstrated that the accuracy of iceberg detection depends on polarimetric bands, parameters of detection algorithm and sea ice types. The novelty of the work also includes a demonstration of detection characteristics including false alarm rates. Improvement of detection results for icebergs in pack ice was achieved using Pauli decomposition components, span and advancing detection algorithm.