Hawley, RL;
Shepherd, A;
Cullen, R;
Helm, V;
Wingham, DJ;
(2009)
Ice-sheet elevations from across-track processing of airborne interferometric radar altimetry.
Geophysical Research Letters
, 36
, Article L22501. 10.1029/2009GL040416.
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Abstract
Interferometric Radar Altimeters (IRA's) use dual receive antennas to overcome one of the spatial limitations of pulse-limited altimeters. In a conventional IRA measurement, the range and across-track direction of a scatterer are determined using the phase difference between the antennas. We demonstrate a method of determining multiple elevation points across a swath orthogonal to the instrument ground track in regions of steep terrain, such as ice-sheet margins. We use data from an airborne IRA (a prototype of the CryoSat-2 instrument), and compare the results to simultaneous Airborne Laser Scanner (ALS) observations. This application results in a 75-fold increase in measurement density compared to conventional radar altimetry. Along a similar to 2.5 km ground track, the RMS departure between the IRA- and ALS-derived measurements was 1.67 m. Based on our result, although our approach is limited to areas of relatively steep slope, a 25- to 75-fold increase in elevation measurements could be achieved in coastal regions of Antarctica and Greenland with similar processing of CryoSat-2 data.
Type: | Article |
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Title: | Ice-sheet elevations from across-track processing of airborne interferometric radar altimetry |
Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
DOI: | 10.1029/2009GL040416 |
Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2009GL040416 |
Language: | English |
Additional information: | Copyright 2009 by the American Geophysical Union |
Keywords: | Altimeter, Interferometry, Ice |
UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Earth Sciences |
URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/75804 |
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