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The microwave scattering characteristics of sea ice in the Bohai Sea

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Abstract

Microwave remote sensing has become the primary means for sea-ice research, and has been supported by a great deal of field experiments and theoretical studies regarding sea-ice microwave scattering. However, these studies have been barely carried in the Bohai Sea. The sea-ice microwave scattering mechanism was first developed for the thin sea ice with slight roughness in the Bohai Sea in the winter of 2012, and included the backscattering coefficients which were measured on the different conditions of three bands (L, C and X), two polarizations (HH and VV), and incident angles of 20° to 60°, using a ground-based scatterometer and the synchronous physical parameters of the sea-ice temperature, density, thickness, salinity, and so on. The theoretical model of the sea-ice electromagnetic scattering is obtained based on these physical parameters. The research regarding the sea-ice microwave scattering mechanism is carried out through two means, which includes the comparison between the field microwave scattering data and the simulation results of the theoretical model, as well as the feature analysis of the four components of the sea-ice electromagnetic scattering. It is revealed that the sea-ice microwave scattering data and the theoretical simulation results vary in the same trend with the incident angles. Also, there is a visible variant in the sensitivity of every component to the different bands. For example, the C and X bands are sensitive to the top surface, the X band is sensitive to the scatterers, and the L and C bands are sensitive to the bottom surface, and so on. It is suggested that the features of the sea-ice surfaces and scatterers can be retrieved by the further research in the future. This experiment can provide an experimental and theoretical foundation for research regarding the sea-ice microwave scattering characteristics in the Bohai Sea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. China University of Petroleum (Huadong), Qingdao, 266580, China

    Meijie Liu & Yongshou Dai

  2. First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao, 266061, China

    Meijie Liu, Jie Zhang, Xi Zhang & Junmin Meng

  3. College of Physics, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Meijie Liu

  4. Qingdao Branch, China Research Institute of Radiowave Propagation, Qingdao, 266107, China

    Xiuqin Zhu & Yalei Yin

Authors
  1. Meijie Liu
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  2. Yongshou Dai
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  3. Jie Zhang
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  4. Xi Zhang
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  5. Junmin Meng
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  6. Xiuqin Zhu
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  7. Yalei Yin
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Correspondence to Yongshou Dai.

Additional information

Foundation item: The National Science Foundation for Young Scientists of China under contract No. 41306193; the National Special Research Fund for Non-Profit Marine Sector under of China under contract No. 201105016; the European Space Agency-Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China (ESA-MOST) Dragon 3 Cooperation Programme under contract No. 10501.

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Liu, M., Dai, Y., Zhang, J. et al. The microwave scattering characteristics of sea ice in the Bohai Sea. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 35, 89–98 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-016-0861-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-016-0861-6

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