South Orkney Island

This ERS-1 SAR image, gathered on 27-7-1992, shows the marginal ice zone west of South Orkney Island on 27 July 1992.

The most remarkable feature in the image is the huge tabular iceberg in the eastern part which created an open water or new ice area east of the iceberg.
The German research icebreaker RV "Polarstern" passed this area about one day after the image was taken. From ice observation carried out from the bridge as well as from helicopter the general ice conditions could be estimated.
The central part of the image consisted mainly of loosely packed fragments of firstyear and secondyear floes, never more than 50 m in diameter with up to 45 pieces of ice had more than 2 m freeboard. Only very few meltpuddles or bare ice were visible and no remarkable ridges were observed.
In the southern part a smaller iceberg is visible. In the most southern part the transition to secondyear ice signatures can be seen. The ice edge is very diffuse in the northwestern part and it consisted of a high percentage of newly formed pancake ice in combination with brash ice and small firstyear floes.
Only in the northeastern part a clear developed edge can be seen.

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