First Steps to Yukon Delta Biophysical Modeling: Monitoring Sea ICE Change Using Reconstructed Nscat Data

摘要

Within the rich ecological zone of the Bering Sea, researchers have recently recoginzed the relationship between biophysical parameters such as dates of sea ice retreat and the seasonal habits of several species of both birds and fish, however monitoring these relationships has been difficult due to the large size of the region and the paucity of climatic and oceanic monitoring stations located there. Because of these factors, satellite remote sensing has played an important role in ecological studies of the Bering Sea. Despite their obvious utility, studies of Bering Sea ice have been notoriously challenging for some remote sensing instruments. For example, near infrared and optical sensors that depend on target illumination by the sun cannot be used during the dark near-solstice weeks. Even when illumination is not a problem, dense regioal cloud cover accompanying extratropical cyclones that form and pass through the Gulf of Alaska make ice mapping using many instruments successful only in localized cloud-free areas.