Author:
Lehtiranta J.,Siiriä S.,Karvonen J.
Abstract
Abstract. Pairs of consecutive C-band SAR images are routinely used for sea ice motion estimation. In addition to the surface roughness L-band SAR imagery provides information of the seasonal sea ice inner structure, which is especially useful in the Baltic Sea lacking multiyear ice and icebergs. In this work, L-band SAR images are investigated for sea ice motion estimation using the well-established maximal cross-correlation approach. This work provides the first comparison of L-band and C-band SAR images for the purpose of motion estimation. The cross-correlation calculations are hardware accelerated using new OpenCL-based source code, which is made available through the author's web site. It is found that L-band images are preferable for motion estimation over C-band images. It is also shown that motion estimation is possible between a C-band and an L-band image using the maximal cross-correlation technique.