Alaska Satellite Facility

Spring 2008, volume 5:1

RADARSAT-1 IPY Legacy Datasets Available

by Rebecca Sanches, Alaska Satellite Facility

In 1952, a scientist named Lloyd Berkner recognized that the scientists who look to the poles to understand global and regional
upcoming maximum in the sunspot cycle could prove to be geophysical changes.
significant to earth sciences. As a result, he proposed the first
The current IPY (2007-2009) celebrates the 50th anniversary of
International Geophysical Year (IGY), a systematic study of the
the IGY by continuing the interdisciplinary science and the spirit
Earth, from pole to pole, that began in 1957. Modeled after the
of international cooperation that characterized past IPY and IGY
previous International Polar Years (IPY), the IGY was highly
efforts. Today, with more than 60 countries participating and over
successful due to both dedicated researchers and advancements in
200 research projects underway, the current IPY is moving forward
technology.
in its effort to facilitate our understanding of changes at the poles
Our understanding of the Earth and its processes was improved and how those changes affect the rest of the world.
because researchers collaboratively focused their research. While
The Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF), in a joint effort with the
the work was carried out globally, there was increased interest in
Canadian Space Agency (CSA), National Air and Space Agency
the poles, especially in the Antarctic region. Research opportunities
(NASA), and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, has identified
drew people to Antarctica and they arrived in numbers like never
seen before. IGY was a clear-cut success, and paved the way for
Continued on Page 2

©CSA 2001 ©CSA 2000

Figure 1a: RADARSAT-1 fine-beam image of windswept Figure 1b: RADARSAT-1 fine-beam image of Northwest
glaciers in eastern Greenland (December 22, 2000) Greenland, Robeson Channel (January 19, 2001)
 Continued from front page

datasets that will be useful to researchers. These data will Current datasets include:
be made available to the international research community
• Greenland using RADARSAT-1, Fine-beam Level-0 products
on an unrestricted basis. ASF has been collecting Synthetic
(Sept. 2000 – Jan. 2001)
Aperture Radar (SAR) data for more than 15 years, giving
United States’ (U.S.) researchers access to the data through • Greenland using RADARSAT-1, Fine-beam Level-1 products
agreements between NASA and the European Space Agency, (Sept. 2000 – Jan. 2001)
the CSA, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. • Antarctica RADARSAT-1 Antarctic Mapping Project (RAMP)
data using Level-1 products (Sept.1, 1997 – Oct. 31, 1997)
Researchers are discovering new ways to use SAR for
their projects. While ASF is currently providing datasets • Toolik Station, AK, using RADARSAT-1 Standard Beams 1-7,
acquired on RADARSAT-1 for IPY distribution, it offers Level-1 products (Oct. 2004 – Dec. 2006)
other valuable datasets from the Japanese Earth Resources • Kamchatka Peninsula using RADARSAT-1 Standard Beams 1-7,
Satellite (JERS), European Remote Sensing Satellites Level-1 products (Dec.1999 – Jan. 2000)
182 (ERS-1, ERS-2), Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar
• Bering Sea using RADARSAT-1, ScanSAR Wide-B Level-1
(AIRSAR) and Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) products (Sept./Mar. 2006, 2007)
(SAR and optical). The unique capability of SAR to image
through any weather, day or night, makes these datasets
especially valuable for polar studies. The data enables
researchers to access information regarding dangerous or Future IPY datasets from the Canadian
inaccessible areas and gives them the capability to see the RADARSAT-1 archive may include:
effects of climate change in Arctic and Antarctic regions,
• Arctic Sea Ice using RADARSAT-1, ScanSAR Wide-B, Level-1
without costly expeditions, and without taking unnecessary
products (Sept.– Mar. 2003 – 2007)
risks.
• Sea Ice Min. and Max. mosaics using RADARSAT-1, ScanSAR
ASF’s goal is to continue to make these data available beyond
Wide A&B (Sept – Mar. 2003 – 2007)
the current IPY to a new generation of researchers interested
in studying the Arctic or Antarctic. The RADARSAT-1 data • Arctic Super Sites using RADARSAT-1, ScanSAR Wide A&B
was previously only available with permission from NASA (1996 – current)

• Great Slave Lake using RADARSAT-1, ScanSAR Wide A&B

(1996 – current)

• Great Bear in Level-1, ScanSAR Wide A&B

(1996 – current)

• Northwest Territories using RADARSAT-1, Standard Beams 1-7

(1996 – current)

• Mackenzie Delta using RADARSAT-1 Fine, Wide, and ScanSAR

Level-1 products (1996 – current)

• Axel Heiberg using RADARSAT-1, Fine beam Level-0 products

(Sept. 2000 – Feb. 2001)

and only to U.S. researchers. However, well-defined datasets will now be

available to researchers during the IPY.
These datasets allow researchers and educators to see global changes,
both historic and current. They give us glimpses of human impact on
the environment. They allow us to observe natural phenomena such
as glacier and ice-shelf motions, wind effects on ocean surfaces, and
regional flooding.

©CSA 2001 ASF has made access to the data fast and simple. Access can be found
at: http://www.asf.alaska.edu/ipy/. For questions, please contact the ASF
Figure 2: RADARSAT-1 fine-beam image of sea ice off the
West Coast of Greenland, Nares Strait, Terminus of Retermann User Services Office via e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at
Glacier (January 19, 2001) (907) 474-6166.
2
Faraday-Rotation Prediction Values on URSA
A
by Franz Meyer, Alaska Satellite Facility
Legend:
WHAT IS FARADAY ROTATION? B: Magnetic field vector
V: Ionospheric conditions
SAR signals that propagate through the ionosphere undergo d: Length of path through medium
Faraday rotation (FR), i.e., a rotation of its polarization vector. ß: Faraday-rotation angle
After traversing the ionosphere, vertically polarized signals exhibit
both vertical and horizontal components, and received SAR data
will contain cross-pol terms.
FR is frequency dependent and increases with decreasing signal
frequency. Therefore, data from X- and C-band SARs are practically
unaffected, while effects on L-band SARs (e.g., ALOS Phased
Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) can be
Figure 1: A schematic representation of FR effects and its dependence on
significant. Besides the frequency dependence, the magnitude of the aforementioned parameters. [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_rotation]
FR depends primarily on the following two parameters:
1. The free-electron density of the ionosphere (cf. Figure 1) the User Remote Sensing. Access (URSA) order interface, we
during acquisition; mainly influenced by the solar activity, provide customers with a listing of predicted FRs for PALSAR
the geographic location, and the time of day; acquisitions in the ASF ALOS archive. This is intended to aid data
2. the magnitude and orientation of the Earth’s magnetic field. selection for researchers wishing to avoid FR effects, or for those
scientists deliberately targeting these effects.
FR generally reduces the image quality of SAR images acquired
in L-band and will impact ALOS PALSAR imagery. While FR As is true for every predicted parameter, a given FR prediction
angles of less than 5º were established as acceptable for a number of is only an approximation of its true value. An analysis of the
common SAR applications, higher FR levels may cause significant prediction quality yields an accuracy of about 1º. Inaccuracies stem
errors in SAR image interpretation and data analysis, especially from uncertainties and, low spatial and temporal resolution of the
decompositions relying on channel ratios. input data required by the model.
FR PREDICTION When searching for data on the URSA order interface, customers
FR angles can be predicted if information about satellite orbit, can specify the acceptable range of FR and will be provided with a
ionospheric conditions, and the magnetic field are available. On selection of datasets that optimally meet their requirements.

EDG to WIST Transition

by Andy Mitchell, Echo Operations, ESDIS
As part of the Earth Observing System (EOS) evolution initiative, of customers using the EDG as their search and order tool. In
the remaining installations of the EOS Data Gateway (EDG) order to take advantage of ECHO performance and user-profile
client used by EOS Data Centers will be decommissioned this enhancements, the migration of each Data Center’s users from
year and will be replaced by the Warehouse Inventory Search the EDG client to the WIST client will begin after ECHO 10 /
Tool, or WIST, created by the EOSDIS Clearing HOuse (ECHO) WIST 10 is released in April 2008 and after each Data Center has
team. There are currently five active EDG sites: 1) ASF, 2) GSFC both exported and reconciled its data holdings in ECHO. This
(Goddard Space Flight Center), 3) LaRC (Langley Research Center), controlled phasing allows ECHO and WIST performance to be
4) LPDAAC (Land Processes DAAC), and 5) NSIDC (National measured and tuned, and allows ECHO to respond to usability
Snow and Ice Data Center). Users may use any EDG instance feedback after each phase.
to search for and order data; however, it is assumed that very few
User-account migration will be handled via a self-service tool that
EDG users perform orders that include data from more than
will be available on each EDG instance once the migration phase
one Data Center. During this transition, EDG users will have an
begins. This tool will automatically copy a user’s EDG profile into
opportunity to migrate their user accounts to WIST.
WIST and will allow the user to verify or correct their account
User migration from EDG to WIST will occur in phases, by
Data Center, beginning with Data Centers with smaller numbers Continued on back page
3
Continued from page 3

information. The user will also be prompted to choose a new password,

using WIST/ECHO password rules. Due to the difficulty in transitioning This newsletter, published by ASF, was created to provide
and the infrequency of usage, users will lose saved EDG searches and detailed information about special projects and noteworthy
results when they migrate to WIST.
developments, as well as science articles highlighting the
A schedule, by Data-Center, will be published to notify users when their use of ASF data.
data access through the EDG clients will be removed. Current EDG users
To receive the newsletter by postal mail, please fill out
will need to create their WIST accounts and, hopefully, become familiar
the subscription form linked to the ASF home page at
with using the WIST client before access is removed from the EDG.
www.asf.alaska.edu.Current and back issues of the newsletter
Ample time will be provided for users to perform this migration. Users
can also be obtained through the ASF Web site.
also have the option of using the Data-Center specific search and order
tool, which for ASF is the URSA interface. Submissions to the ASF News & Notes and suggestions
about content are always welcome. If you are interested
Because EDG users typically register at a single EDG instance, are not
in contributing materials, please call or send an email to
automatically registered at all EDG instances, and are not required to
register at a particular Data-Center, the EDG clients will continue to be the editor:
operational until each Data Center has removed access to their data from Vicky Wolf, ASF User Services
the EDG. The EDG clients will be disabled once the users are migrated 907-474-6166 | [email protected]
to ECHO/WIST and the data access has been removed from the EDG.
Data-Center acceptance criteria for this transition will be based on Alaska Satellite Facility Office of the Director
WIST functionality and response time, ECHO ingest and search/order Nettie La Belle-Hamer, Director
performance, ECHO data-holdings integrity, user-profile migration Scott Arko, Deputy Director
completion, and user satisfaction.
ASF Center Managers
If you have questions or concerns about this transition or about data
Jeremy Nicoll, Engineering
access, please contact the ASF User Services Office at [email protected],
Don Atwood, Remote Sensing Support
907-474-6166.
Scott Arko, Operations

Alaska Satellite Facility

UAF Geophysical Institute
903 Koyukuk Drive
PO Box 757320
Fairbanks, AK 99775-7320

www.asf.alaska.edu