Airborne X- and C-band SAR Images of Sea Ice in the Barents Sea

SIZEX-89 was an official pre-launch ERS-1 program where the main objectives were to perform ERS-1 type sensors signature studies of different ice types in order to develop SAR algorithms for ice variables such as ice types, ice concentrations and ice kinematics. SIZEX-89 was a multidisciplinary, international winter experiment carried out in the Barents and the Greenland Seas during February and March 1989. During the experiment, 130 CCT tape of airborne X-band and C-band SAR data were obtained by the CCRS CV-580 in the Barents Sea, in February 1989. Remote Sensing, oceanographical, ocean acoustical, meteorological and sea ice data were collected. Several platforms were used: one ice-strengthened vessel (R/V Polarbjorn), one open ocean ship (R/V Hakon Mosby), helicopter drifting buoys, bottom-moored buoys, aircraft and satellites (NOAA, DMSP). In addition to data collection, an ice-forecasting model was run operationally to predict ice motion, ice thickness and ice concentration. The integrated data set obtained in SIZEX-89 is a pilot data set suitable to develop and improve methods for ice monitoring and prediction.