Synergetic use of SSM/I and ERS-1 AMI scatterometer data for detection and Classification of sea ice

Near coincident data from the DMSP SSM/I radiometer and ERS-1 AMI wind scatterometer are used during a five year period from 1992 to 1996. The study area includes the Arctic Ocean and the Greenland Sea. Sea ice retrievals from the NASA Team algorithm are compared to retrievals from a new scatterometer sea ice retrieval algorithm. It is evident from the results that the NASA Team weather correction for SSM/I sea ice retrievals works well over ice-free ocean surfaces, although it cannot be applied over mixed pixels or ice. The scatterometer algorithm presented, however, does not appear to need a weather correction. Therefore, especially the mixed pixel estimates could be enhanced by the use of active microwaves in addition to passive microwaves.