Ice detection with a scatterometer: exploiting the full 3D measurement space

The ERS-1 and ERS-2 play an essential role in the development of the Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF), to become an integral part of the satellite ground segment. During the life time of ERS-1 and ERS-2 the processing of ERS scatterometer winds has been developed considerably, and many operational centers using scatterometer data followed these developments. In the Ocean and Sea Ice SAF, preparations are made for the wind and ice products of the ASCAT scatterometer on EPS/METOP. A pre-operational ice product based on the ERS-2 scatterometer is presented in this paper. This ice product is based on the three dimensional measurement space. Besides a ice discrimination other important geophysical parameters can be determined using this new ice model. Comparisons will be made with existing ice detection models.