Data Summaries

The following table provides brief descriptions of the RADARSAT data sets and links to access the data. To access the data or guide documentation for a particular data set, click on the data set title in the table.
 

Data Set Title	Summary
RAMP AMM-1 SAR Image Mosaic of Antarctica	In 1997, the Canadian RADARSAT-1 satellite was rotated in orbit, so that its Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) antenna looked south towards Antarctica. This permitted the first high-resolution mapping of the entire continent of Antarctica. In eighteen days, the satellite acquired a complete coverage of radar image swaths as part of the first Antarctic Mapping Mission (AMM-1). Swath images have been assembled into an image mosaic depicting the entire continent at 25-m resolution. The mosaic provides a detailed look at ice sheet morphology, rock outcrops, research infrastructure, the coastline, and other features of Antarctica, as well as representing calibrated radar backscatter data which may provide insight into climate processes affecting the upper few meters of snow cover.
RADARSAT Antarctic Mapping Project Digital Elevation Model Version 2	The high-resolution RADARSAT Antarctic Mapping Project (RAMP) DEM combines topographic data from a variety of sources, including European Remote Sensing Satellite-1 (ERS-1) radar altimetry, airborne radar surveys, ground-based surveys, the recently-updated Antarctic Digital Database (version 2), and large-scale topographic maps from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Australian Antarctic Division. The resulting data set provides consistent coverage of all of Antarctica. Version 2 improves upon the original version by incorporating new topographic data, error corrections, extended coverage, and other modifications.
CLPX-Satellite: Radarsat Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery	This data set consists of time-series spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery of the three Cold Land Processes Field Experiment (CLPX) Meso-cell Study Areas (MSAs) (Fraser, Rabbit Ears, and North Park) acquired by the RADARSAT-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Images are derived from C-band (5.3 GHz frequency, 5.66 cm wavelength) HH-polarization Standard Beam data for multiple incidence angles. SAR data were acquired through the Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF) and post-processed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, for derivation of ancillary data and assembly of the database. The data series consists of 195 individual radar scenes acquired from 17 February to 23 June 2003. Calibrated radar backscatter images are provided in binary format together with header and facility data record information for each image.
Compilation of Antarctic Radar Data, Siple Coast, 2000-2002	These data consist of ground-based, ice-penetrating radar profiles across satellite-detected lineations and terrains that were taken in the lower reaches of Ross Ice Stream C, also known as the Kamb Ice Stream (KIS); on Roosevelt Island; on the Siple Dome; and on the Shabtaie Ice Ridge. Researchers collected low frequency (2 MHz - 7 MHz) data during two separate deployments, 11 November through 7 December 2000 and 3 January through 28 January 2002. These radar data provide information on surface morphology and internal layer stratigraphy. The data are in the form of raw binary data files, accompanied by processed data files in JPEG format. These data are from a study of the scar-like features that are well known from the Siple Coast ice stream system in West Antarctica. The objective of the field work was to identify the nature of several scars, and to further characterize previously-identified margin scars that have been poorly dated. Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and RADARSAT image data, which are not included in this data set, were used to locate and map the features, and place them in a regional context. The study describes the recent history of the Siple Coast glaciers and investigates the causes of their changes in configuration. The main investigative tools were ground penetrating radar (GPR) profiles used to image internal layers and measure the depths to buried crevasses or disrupted layering. This, coupled with accumulation rates determined from shallow ice cores, provides 'shutdown' ages for the margin features. The field data provide input parameters for simple models of ice flow for margins and inter-ice stream ridges during active shearing and after shutdown. Such modeling will output an estimate of the initial elevation of scars and the corresponding ice stream elevation at the time of shutdown.