NASA SCP Arctic and Antarctic Ice Extent from QuikSCAT, 1999-2004, Version 1

Data set id:

NSIDC-0265

DOI: 10.5067/BCYI8J35BGFO

Data Citation and Acknowledgment
As a condition of using these data, you must cite the use of this data set. Such a practice gives credit to data set producers and advances principles of transparency and reproducibility.

Long, D. G. (2005). NASA SCP Arctic and Antarctic Ice Extent from QuikSCAT, 1999-2004. (NSIDC-0265, Version 1). [Data Set]. Boulder, Colorado USA. National Snow and Ice Data Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/BCYI8J35BGFO. [describe subset used if applicable]. Date Accessed 12-11-2024.

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Version Summary

Initial release

Overview

This data set provides sea ice extent for the Arctic (60-90 degrees North) and Antarctic (52-90 degrees South) in Scatterometer Image Reconstruction (SIR) binary image format, along with ASCII text files containing latitude and longitude coordinates along the sea ice edge, and browse images of SIR files in Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format. Ancillary products include daily-averaged total sea ice extent in ASCII format. Estimates of sea ice extent were produced from daily-averaged QuikSCAT sigma-0 measurements and extend from 19 July 1999 to 31 December 2004. QuikSCAT obtains 12 individual radar normalized backscatter (sigma-0) measurements, called slices, for each footprint as it scans over a 1800 km wide swath. Slices are typically 4 to 6 km long by 20 km wide. The summed measurements of the slices are called egg measurements. The effective resolution and shape of each egg measurement is approximately 20 by 30 km, depending on the antenna beam and instrument mode. This data set contains both slice and egg images for each day. The Microwave Earth Remote Sensing (MERS) group at Brigham Young University (BYU) developed a SIR-with-filtering (SIRF) algorithm that combines forward- and aft-looking sigma-0 measurements to produce enhanced-resolution backscatter images over various azimuth angles. The polarization ratio, incidence angle dependence, and the sigma-0 estimate error standard deviation were used to discriminate between sea ice and ocean. Sea ice extent was estimated for both slice and egg images. The nominal pixel resolution of the slice images is 2.225 km with an estimated effective resolution of approximately 4 km. Egg images have a nominal pixel resolution of 4.45 km with an estimated effective resolution of approximately 8 to 10 km.

Parameter(s):

ICE EXTENT

Platform(s):

QUIKSCAT

Sensor(s):

SEAWINDS

Data Format(s):

PNG, Binary, ASCII

Temporal Coverage:

19 July 1999 to 31 December 2004

Temporal Resolution:

1 day

Spatial Resolution:

2.225 km
4.45 km

2.225 km
4.45 km

Spatial Coverage:

N:

-52

S:

-90

E:

180

W:

-180

N:

90

S:

60

E:

180

W:

-180

Blue outlined yellow areas on the map below indicate the spatial coverage for this data set.

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This data set has been retired. There is a more recent version of these data.

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