This ERS-1 SAR image is from 29 October 1993 when the ice starts to form in the southern Barents Sea (see the location of the SAR image ). The darker areas (A) are grease ice, while the brighter areas in the upper left part of the image and along the Yamal peninsula (B) is grey-white ice 15 - 30 cm thick which has formed in the previous two weeks. It is noteworthy that ice freezes close to land before it forms in deeper water (D). There are several ice tongues and meanders along the coast (E) which reflect mesoscale ocean currents. The ice pack from the northern Kara Sea, which is seen in the upper left part of the image, advances southwards during the autumn and in late November the Kara Sea is usually completely ice-covered.

NERSC, Bergen, Norway

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