Use of side‐looking air‐borne radar for sea ice identification

An experiment was conducted to assess the performance of side-looking air-borne radar (SLAR) in mapping and identifying sea ice parameters. A Philco-Ford AN/DPD-2 (Modified) SLAR was installed on a Coast Guard C-130 aircraft and flown on an experimental basis during September 1969 in conjunction with the S.S. MANHATTAN's transit of the Northwest Passage. In addition to the research effort to determine its feasibility as an ice observational technique, the SLAR was also used as a routing aid to the MANHATTAN. The results of this experiment indicate that SLAR can readily be used to detect ice concentrations, floe size and number, and water openings, and to identify through careful image interpretation, ice age, ice drift, surface topography, fractures, and pressure characteristics. SLAR's broad areal coverage, all weather, day and night capability make it an effective means of observing sea ice and for many purposes it provides observations superior to information obtained by a visual ice observer. SLAR imagery can be used in research efforts to study the formation, growth, and decay of sea ice and can be used operationally for ship routing and ice forecasting. It will be necessary to conduct similar experiments during other seasons of the year to determine whether there is a seasonal influence on the imaged appearance of sea ice. (Author)