Polarimetric L- and C-band SAR signatures of Baltic sea ice observed during EMAC-95

As part of the European Multi-Sensor Airborne Campaign on Snow and Ice in 1995 (EMAC-95), the radar signatures of Baltic sea ice were measured by the fully Polarimetric EMISAR at C- and L-band. In this paper, we present examples of backscattering coefficients and Polarimetrie parameters for level and deformed Baltic sea ice which were evaluated from the EMISAR data. The examples show that the radar signature characteristics at C- and L-band are quite different in several cases since the longer L-band waves penetrate much deeper into the ice and are stronger affected by ice bulk properties than the shorter C-band waves. For level ice, results of a simple scattering model are used to investigate the influence of different scattering mechanisms on the C- and L-band radar signatures.