Barrow coastal ice radar data

The Barrow coastal sea ice radar is 25 kW X-band marine radar with a 8' antenna, which is mounted on top of the bank building in Barrow, Alaska.

Sea ice can be detected at ranges of up to about 20km (12 miles). Radar signals are reflected by rough ice, which appears as bright areas in these images. Sea ice ridges appear as lines of bright reflections. Buildings, fences and cars on land also return strong signals. Dark areas in the image do not necessarily imply the absence of ice. Dark regions can be caused by shadowing behind tall features or by smooth areas, which do not reflect radar energy back to the antenna.

Images are archived every 5 minutes to monitor processes that shape the landfast ice and last only a few hours.