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Full-Text Articles in Engineering
A C-Band Scatterometer Simultaneous Wind/Rain Retrieval Method, David G. Long, Congling Nie
A C-Band Scatterometer Simultaneous Wind/Rain Retrieval Method, David G. Long, Congling Nie
Faculty Publications
Using collocated ERS scatterometer (ESCAT), Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar (PR), and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) data, the effects of rain on ESCAT wind-only retrieval are evaluated. Additional scattering from rain causes estimated wind speeds to appear higher than expected. Selected directions of the rain-corrupted wind vectors are biased toward along-track directions under conditions of heavy rain, which is regardless of the true wind direction. Rain becomes more significant for data acquired at a high incidence angle. To compensate for rain-induced backscatter, a simultaneous wind/rain retrieval (SWRR) method, which simultaneously retrieves wind velocity and surface …
Windsat Passive Microwave Polarimetric Signatures Of The Greenland Ice Sheet, David G. Long, Li Li, Peter Gaiser, Mary R. Albert, Elizabeth M. Twarog
Windsat Passive Microwave Polarimetric Signatures Of The Greenland Ice Sheet, David G. Long, Li Li, Peter Gaiser, Mary R. Albert, Elizabeth M. Twarog
Faculty Publications
WindSat has systematically collected the first global fully polarimetric passive microwave data over both land and ocean. As the first spaceborne polarimetric microwave radiometer, it was designed to measure ocean surface wind speed and direction by including the third and fourth Stokes parameters, which are mostly related to the asymmetric structures of the ocean surface roughness. Although designed for wind vector retrieval, WindSat data are also collected over land and ice, and this new data has revealed, for the first time, significant land signals in the third and fourth Stokes parameter channels, particularly over Greenland and the Antarctic ice sheets. …
Melt Detection In Antarctic Ice Shelves Using Scatterometers And Microwave Radiometers, David G. Long, Lucas B. Kunz
Melt Detection In Antarctic Ice Shelves Using Scatterometers And Microwave Radiometers, David G. Long, Lucas B. Kunz
Faculty Publications
Ku-band dual-polarization radar backscatter measurements from the SeaWinds-on-QuikSCAT scatterometer are used to determine periods of surface freeze and melt in the Antarctic ice shelves. The normalized horizontal-polarization radar backscatter (sigmao) and backscatter polarization ratio are used in maximum-likelihood estimation of the ice state. This method is used to infer the daily ice-surface conditions for 25 study locations located on the Ronne, Ross, Larsen, Amery, Shackleton, and other ice shelves. The temporal and spatial variations of the radar response are observed for various neighborhood sizes surrounding each given location during the study period. Criteria for determining the dates of melt onset …
Microwave Observations Of Daily Antarctic Sea-Ice Edge Expansion And Contraction Rates, David G. Long, Jeffrey R. Allen
Microwave Observations Of Daily Antarctic Sea-Ice Edge Expansion And Contraction Rates, David G. Long, Jeffrey R. Allen
Faculty Publications
Algorithms for estimating sea-ice extent from remotely sensed microwave sensor data can benefit from knowledge of the "a priori" distribution of the daily expansion and contraction of the sea-ice pack. To estimate the probability distribution of daily Antarctic sea-ice extent change, two independent sea-ice datasets are analyzed: sea-ice extent derived from the QuikSCAT scatterometer and ice concentration estimates from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager. The daily sea-ice advance and retreat is tracked over a four-year period. The distribution of the daily sea-ice advance/retreat from each sensor is similar and is approximately double-exponential. Daily ice-pack statistics are presented.
An Analysis Of Seawinds-Based Rain Retrieval In Severe Weather Events, David G. Long, Jeffrey R. Allen
An Analysis Of Seawinds-Based Rain Retrieval In Severe Weather Events, David G. Long, Jeffrey R. Allen
Faculty Publications
The Ku-band SeaWinds scatterometer estimates near-surface ocean wind vectors by relating measured backscatter to a geophysical model function for the near-surface vector wind. The conventional wind retrieval algorithm does not explicitly account for SeaWinds' sensitivity to rain, resulting in rain-caused wind retrieval error. A new retrieval method, termed "simultaneous wind/rain retrieval," that estimates both wind and rain from rain-contaminated measurements has been previously proposed and validated with Tropical Rain Measuring Mission data. Here, the accuracy of rains retrieved by the new method is validated through comparison with the Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) in coastal storm events. The rains detected …
Sea Ice Mapping Method For Seawinds, David G. Long, Hyrum S. Anderson
Sea Ice Mapping Method For Seawinds, David G. Long, Hyrum S. Anderson
Faculty Publications
A sea ice mapping algorithm for SeaWinds is developed that incorporates statistical and spatial a priori information in a modified maximum a posteriori (MAP) framework. Spatial a priori data are incorporated in the loss terms of a Bayes risk formulation. Conditional distributions and priors for sea ice and ocean statistics are represented as empirical histograms that are forced to conform to a set of expected histograms via principal component filtering. Tuning parameters for the algorithm allow adjustments in the algorithm's performance. Results of the algorithm exhibit high correlation with the Remund-Long sea ice mapping algorithm for SeaWinds and the Special …
Observation And Characterization Of Radar Backscatter Over Greenland, David G. Long, Ivan S. Ashcraft
Observation And Characterization Of Radar Backscatter Over Greenland, David G. Long, Ivan S. Ashcraft
Faculty Publications
Characterization of the microwave signature of the Greenland snow surface enables delineation of the different snow facies and is a tool for tracking the effects of climate change. A new empirical observation model is introduced that uses a limited number of parameters to characterize the snow surface based on the dependence of radar backscatter on incidence angle, azimuth angle, spatial gradient, and temporal rate of change. The individual model parameters are discussed in depth with examples using data from the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) and from the C-band European Remote Sensing (ERS) satellite Advanced Microwave Instrument in scatterometer mode. The contribution …
Simultaneous Wind And Rain Retrieval Using Seawinds Data, David G. Long, David W. Draper
Simultaneous Wind And Rain Retrieval Using Seawinds Data, David G. Long, David W. Draper
Faculty Publications
The SeaWinds scatterometers onboard the QuikSCAT and the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite 2 measure ocean winds on a global scale via the relationship between the normalized radar backscattering cross section of the ocean and the vector wind. The current wind retrieval method ignores scattering and attenuation of ocean rain, which alter backscatter measurements and corrupt retrieved winds. Using a simple rain backscatter and attenuation model, two methods of improving wind estimation in the presence of rain are evaluated. First, if no suitable prior knowledge of the rain rate is available, a maximum-likelihood estimation technique is used to simultaneously retrieve the …
Assessing The Quality Of Seawinds Rain Measurements, David G. Long, David W. Draper
Assessing The Quality Of Seawinds Rain Measurements, David G. Long, David W. Draper
Faculty Publications
While SeaWinds was designed to measure ocean winds, it can also measure rain over the ocean. SeaWinds on QuikSCAT active measurements of integrated columnar rain rate obtained via simultaneous wind/rain retrieval are evaluated via Monte Carlo simulation and the Cramer-Rao lower bound on estimate accuracy. Although sufficiently accurate in many conditions, the simultaneous wind/rain retrieval method used with SeaWinds on QuikSCAT data is ill-conditioned for certain wind directions and measurement geometries, sometimes yielding spurious rain rates in zero-rain conditions. To assess the validity of SeaWinds-derived rain rates, a simple empirically based rain thresholding scheme is presented, derived from simulated data. …
Automatic Detection And Validity Of The Sea-Ice Edge: An Application Of Enhanced-Resolution Quikscat/Seawinds Data, David G. Long, Jorg Haarpaintner, Rasmus T. Tonboe, Michael L. Van Woert
Automatic Detection And Validity Of The Sea-Ice Edge: An Application Of Enhanced-Resolution Quikscat/Seawinds Data, David G. Long, Jorg Haarpaintner, Rasmus T. Tonboe, Michael L. Van Woert
Faculty Publications
Sea-ice edge detection is an essential task at the different national ice services to secure navigation in ice-covered seas. Comparison between the Remund and Long ice mask image from enhanced-resolution QuikScat/SeaWinds (QS) products and the analyzed ice edge from high-resolution RADARSAT synthetic aperture radar has shown that the automatically determined QS ice mask underestimates the Arctic ice extent. QS data was statistically analyzed by colocating the data with ice charts around Greenland and with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Team's Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) ice concentration algorithm over the whole Arctic region. All variables, i.e., the backscatter in vertical …
Large-Scale Inverse Ku-Band Backscatter Modeling Of Sea Ice, David G. Long, Quinn P. Remund
Large-Scale Inverse Ku-Band Backscatter Modeling Of Sea Ice, David G. Long, Quinn P. Remund
Faculty Publications
Polar sea ice characteristics provide important inputs to models of several geophysical processes. Microwave scatterometers are ideal for monitoring these regions due to their sensitivity to ice properties and insensitivity to atmospheric distortions. Many forward electromagnetic scattering models have been proposed to predict the normalized radar cross section (σ˚) from sea ice characteristics. These models are based on very small scale ice features and generally assume that the region of interest is spatially homogeneous. Unfortunately, spaceborne scatterometer footprints are very large (5-50 km) and usually contain very heterogeneous mixtures of sea ice surface parameters. In this paper, we use scatterometer …
Validation Of Sea Ice Motion From Quikscat With Those From Ssm/I And Buoy, David G. Long, Yunhe Zhao, Antony K. Liu
Validation Of Sea Ice Motion From Quikscat With Those From Ssm/I And Buoy, David G. Long, Yunhe Zhao, Antony K. Liu
Faculty Publications
Arctic sea ice motion for the period from October 1999 to March 2000 derived from QuikSCAT and ocean buoy observations. Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) data using the wavelet analysis method agrees well with ocean buoy observations. Results from QuikSCAT and SSM/I are compatible when compared with buoy observations and complement each other. Sea ice drift merged from daily results from QuikSCAT, SSM/I, and buoy data gives more complete coverage of sea ice motion. Based on observations of six months of sea ice motion maps, the sea ice motion maps in the Arctic derived from QuikSCAT data appear to have smoother …
An Iterative Approach To Multisensor Sea Ice Classification, David G. Long, Mark R. Drinkwater, Quinn P. Remund
An Iterative Approach To Multisensor Sea Ice Classification, David G. Long, Mark R. Drinkwater, Quinn P. Remund
Faculty Publications
Characterizing the variability in sea ice in the polar regions is fundamental to an understanding of global climate and the geophysical processes governing climate changes. Sea ice can be grouped into a number of general classes with different characteristics. Multisensor data from NSCAT, ERS-2, and SSM/I are reconstructed into enhanced resolution imagery for use in ice-type classification. The resulting twelve-dimensional data set is linearly transformed through principal component analysis to reduce data dimensionality and noise levels. An iterative statistical data segmentation algorithm is developed using maximum likelihood (ML) and maximum a posteriori (MAP) techniques. For a given ice type, the …
Cryosphere Applications Of Nscat Data, David G. Long, Mark R. Drinkwater
Cryosphere Applications Of Nscat Data, David G. Long, Mark R. Drinkwater
Faculty Publications
Though designed to measure vector winds over the ocean, new imaging techniques facilitate the use of NASA scatterometer data (NSCAT) in cryosphere studies. NSCAT provides data of unprecedented coverage, resolution, and quality which, when coupled with the scatterometer image reconstruction with filtering (SIRF) algorithm, enables images of O at resolutions approaching 8 km over stationary targets. Such images are useful in ice mapping and classification, and multidecadal studies are possible by comparison with Seasat Scatterometer (SASS) data. The utility of NSCAT data in polar ice studies is illustrated through a review of two cryosphere applications of NSCAT data: (1) sea-ice …
Azimuthal Modulation Of C-Band Scatterometer Over Southern Ocean Sea Ice, David G. Long, David S. Early
Azimuthal Modulation Of C-Band Scatterometer Over Southern Ocean Sea Ice, David G. Long, David S. Early
Faculty Publications
In a continuing evaluation of the ERS-1 C-band scatterometer as a tool for studying polar sea ice, the authors evaluate the azimuthal modulation characteristics of Antarctic sea ice. ERS-1 AMI scatterometer mode data sets from several study regions dispersed in the Antarctic seasonal sea ice pack are evaluated for azimuthal modulation. When appropriate, the incidence angle dependence is estimated and removed in a study region before determining whether azimuthal modulation is present in the data. Other comparisons are made using the fore and aft beam measurement difference. The results show that over the ice pack, azimuthal modulation is less than …