An analysis of scattering and emission from sea ice

Abstract

Abstract Scattering and emission models for multilayered inhomogeneous media are developed based on the matrix doubling method. They are made applicable to media closely packed with scatterers by using the complete scattered field expression in the derivation of the scattering phase function. These models are applied to sets of multifrequency, multiangle, multipolarization, active and passive measurements from simulated sea ice prepared under laboratory conditions and from field experiments on sea ice where ground truths were gathered. It is found that identical surface and ice parameters in agreement with ground truth information may be used to predict both emission and scattering. Such a combined approach can give an indication as to the consistency between active and passive data levels and angular trends. Furthermore, it is found that for thin lossy ice above a water surface, scattering and emission from water could be significant.