Advanced SAR applications for Canada's river and lake ice

The multi-polarized and polarimetric capabilities of RADARSAT-2 are evaluated to enhance river and lake ice monitoring. Multi-year time series of polarimetric images for selected rivers and lakes in north-western Canada are analyzed for their information potential. Meteorological and geophysical field measurements support the interpretation of polarimetric imagery. Statistically estimated thresholds for selected polarimetric parameters are used in unsupervised classification and subsequent ice mapping.