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Ekstroem Ice Shelf
 This
ERS-1 SAR image has been gathered on 30-1-1992. The main part of this image
is made up by a floating ice shelf Ekstroemisen, which is bounded by two ridges
of grounded ice, Halvgarryggen and Soerasen. In the center of the image the
ice moves towards the coast at a speed of about 200 m per year, causing wave
like undulations at the surface which are aligned approximately parallel to
the ice edge. Only a very small part of Halvgarryggen is visible in the image,
just below the upper right corner.
The triangular thin lines which are slightly brighter than the surrounding surface
close to the center of the upper margin of this image, are tracks of snowmobiles,
connecting the German station "Georg-von-Neumayer" (left) with the
construction site of the new German station "Neumayer" and both locations
with the landing site of the polar vessels at the Atka Bay.
The ridge of Soerasen in the lower part of the image rises several hundred meters
above the ice shelf. The mushroom like feature extending from Soerasen towards
the sea, called Austasen, is also grounded. Just below Austasen part of the
ice shelf Quarisen is visible. the boundaries of the floating ice shelves towards
the grounded ice of Soerasen and Austasen, the grounding lines, appear clearly.
On 15 March 1992 all snow and
ice was frozen. This results in radar reflectivity on the ice shelf and at the
slopes of Soerasen because frozen snow containing ice layers and ice pipes is
an effective volume scattering medium. At higher elevation on Soerasen the radar
reflectivity is lower because the snowpack morphology is more homogeneous. The
slightly reduced reflectivity on the ice shelves in the image of 30 January
in comparison with the image of 15 March is an indication of metled weak surface.
H. Rott, Innsbruck, Austria
Keywords: ESA European
Space Agency - Agence spatiale europeenne,
observation de la terre, earth observation,
satellite remote sensing,
teledetection, geophysique, altimetrie, radar,
chimique atmospherique, geophysics, altimetry, radar,
atmospheric chemistry
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EO Data Access
This
ERS-1 SAR image has been gathered on 30-1-1992. The main part of this image
is made up by a floating ice shelf Ekstroemisen, which is bounded by two ridges
of grounded ice, Halvgarryggen and Soerasen. In the center of the image the
ice moves towards the coast at a speed of about 200 m per year, causing wave
like undulations at the surface which are aligned approximately parallel to
the ice edge. Only a very small part of Halvgarryggen is visible in the image,
just below the upper right corner. 