Proceedings of the Symposium on Global and Environmental Monitoring: Proceedings of the Symposium on Global and Environmental Monitoring

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Persistent identifier:: 856665355

Title:: Proceedings of the Symposium on Global and Environmental Monitoring

Sub title:: techniques and impacts ; September 17 - 21, 1990, Victoria Conference Centre, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Year of publication:: 1990

Place of publication:: Victoria, BC

Publisher of the original:: [Verlag nicht ermittelbar]

Identifier (digital):: 856665355

Language:: English

Document type:: Multivolume work

Volume

Persistent identifier:: 856669164

Title:: Proceedings of the Symposium on Global and Environmental Monitoring

Sub title:: techniques and impacts; September 17 - 21, 1990, Victoria Conference Centre, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Scope:: XIV, 912 Seiten

Year of publication:: 1990

Place of publication:: Victoria, BC

Publisher of the original:: [Verlag nicht ermittelbar]

Identifier (digital):: 856669164

Illustration:: Illustrationen, Diagramme, Karten

Signature of the source:: ZS 312(28,7,1)

Language:: English

Usage licence:: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Editor:: International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Commission of Photographic and Remote Sensing Data

Publisher of the digital copy:: Technische Informationsbibliothek Hannover

Place of publication of the digital copy:: Hannover

Year of publication of the original:: 2016

Document type:: Volume

Collection:: Earth sciences

Chapter

Title:: [TP-3 OCEAN/COASTAL ZONE MONITORING]

Document type:: Multivolume work

Structure type:: Chapter

Chapter

Title:: The SIMS Project: The Study of Sea Ice as an Indicator of Climate Change and Variability. David G. Barber, Joseph M. Piwowar, Douglas D. Johnson, Ellsworth F. LeDrew

Document type:: Multivolume work

Structure type:: Chapter

The SIMS Project: The Study of Sea Ice as an Indicator of Climate Change and Variability David G. Barber, Joseph M. Piwowar, Douglas D. Johnson, Ellsworth F. LeDrew Earth Observations Laboratory, Institute for Space and Terrestrial Science, Department of Geography, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ont. N2L 3G1 CANADA ABSTRACT The Earth Observations Laboratory at the University of Waterloo has developed a Sea Ice Monitoring Site (SIMS) in Lancaster Sound, N.W. T. Within the projected five year term of this project the primary goal is to develop the ability to link Sea Ice parameters with atmospheric variables which are required for the measurement and monitoring of climate change and variability. In this paper we report on the science issues and methodologies which will be employed to utilize historical ice information coupled with remote sensing data, for the measurement and monitoring of climate change and variability. As a cooperative venture with the Atmospheric Environment Service of Environment Canada, we have developed a technique to import historical ice map information through an optical scanning process into a spatial analysis system. These data are then coupled with classifications of Sea Ice derived from aerial and orbital Synthetic Aperture Radars (e.g.. ERS-1; Radarsat; Challenger SAR). The major science issues of interest include descriptions of: the type and range of geophysical parameters that can be extracted from SAR imagery; the use of synergistic remote sensing data (i.e., Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), thermal, multispectral, and passive microwave) to characterize the surface radiation components of the atmosphere-cryosphere-hydrosphere interface; and the integration of remote sensing and historical ice chart data for the extraction of information relevant to climatic change. In situ surface radiation measurements, and Sea Ice geophysical measurements collected during LIMEX (Labrador Ice Margin Experiment) '89 and coupled with our SIMS field project provide the data required to link ice variables to atmospheric state variables, and provide insights into how Sea Ice can be used as an early indicator of climate change. Key Words: Atmosphere-cryosphere-hydrosphere interaction, digital image analysis, Lancaster Sound, Synthetic Aperture Radar, Sea Ice Monitoring Site, Sea Ice Information System. 1. INTRODUCTION A key program element in the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) is "Arctic Interactions" - the title of a joint Canadian-United States planning document sponsored by the Royal Society of Canada and the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (UCAR, 1988). Several themes reflecting the pervasive linkages through the physical and biological components of the planet system have been identified as foci for coordinated international research over the coming decades. One includes the atmosphere- cryosphere-hydrosphere interactions of the Arctic. The rationale is as follows: Sea ice exerts a major influence on global processes, especially on the earth's radiation balance and on the formation of oceanic bottom water and thus on the circulation of the global atmosphere-ocean system. Sea ice is sensitive to climate, and the greatest changes due to greenhouse effects, according to numerical modelling are predicted to be in the arctic sea-ice regions. Yet the coupled interactions between ocean, atmosphere, and sea ice in the Arctic are poorly understood and only crudely modeled. (UCAR, ibid, pp. v) We are now in a position to tackle these issues within a Global Change context because of the maturation of two critical technologies: we now have the capability to manipulate large data sets in computers with the speed necessary to model complex systems, and we can observe the entire planet from space in a synoptic and consistent manner. The focus of our work is the use of digital remotely sensed imagery in numerical models of atmosphere-cryosphere interactions in the Polar regions. Using inversion techniques, we may convert reflected or emitted radiances into parameters that can drive climate processes in a simulation model, or surface classes derived from the imagery may be used as proxy indicators of such parameters through calibrated transfer functions. The use of remotely sensed data in this manner is particularly important in Polar regions where traditional in situ data have not provided the spatial coverage required. Typically, meteorological stations are biased toward accessible coastal regions or we use platforms of opportunity such as drifting ice islands, or, more recently, drifting buoys. From the satellite imagery we are discovering and attempting to understand atmosphere-cryosphere- hydrosphere phenomena that could not have been imagined two decades ago (LeDrew, 1990). In this paper we describe the science objectives and the technical structure of a long-term monitoring site in the Canadian Arctic created specifically to use remotely sensed data in support of model simulations of atmosphere-cryosphere feedbacks and the role of those feedbacks in climate change and variability. 2. THE SEA ICE MONITORING SITE The Sea Ice Monitoring Site (SIMS) is a five year multidisciplinary research project developed by the Earth Observations Laboratory of the Institute for Space and Terrestrial Science (ISTS/University of Waterloo), in co-operation with several participating agencies (Table 1). Within SIMS, our primary objectives are to characterize the physical processes of atmosphere-cyrosphere-hydrosphcre interactions and to develop the capability to measure the pertinent variables using remote sensing data. Specific objectives include: • Characterization of the physical processes of the atmosphere- cyrosphere-hydrosphere interactions and feedbacks in an arctic floating ice regime using remotely sensed imagery; • Validation of the geophysical characteristics of sea ice which can be measured from remote sensing data; • Development of an understanding of how this information can be extracted from digital imagery; • Description of the changes in microwavelength signatures of sea ice as a function of season, scale, and wavelength; • Development of proxy indicators which can be used to infer selected atmospheric state variables over the ice/snow surface in different seasons; • Identification of the synergistic relationships between SAR and optical/thermal wavelength remote sensing imagers for characterization of ice/atmosphere related physical processes. The SIMS project requires development of a surface validation site in Lancaster Sound, Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada (Figure 1). One trial field programme was conducted in 1990 (12 May to 7 June). Three field programmes, corresponding to winter, summer, and fall ice conditions, are planned in subsequent years. The 1990 field programme was held coincident with overflights from two SAR aircraft-based sensors (the X-band ICEC Challenger SAR, contracted from Intera Technologies; the X-and C-band CCRS Convair-580). Three orbital sensors will provide data in the visual, near and thermal infrared wavelengths: Landsat TM, SPOT and NOAA AVHRR. Starting in 1991, new orbital systems will become available through such programmes as JERS-1, ERS-1 and RADARSAT. These satellites will carry Synthetic Aperture Radars (SARs), which are capable of ‘all weather’ and ‘day-night’ mapping of the Earth's surface. A suite of sensors from NASA's proposed Mission to Planet Earth is also expected to provide remote sensing data for this field programme in future years.

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