The objectives of this research in the late winter pack ice close to the time of maximum ice extent and thickness are to 1) document the salinity and temperature characteristics of floes, 2) document the structural variability and identify the processes responsible for ice growth, 3) determine the snow and ice thickness distribution, and 4) investigate the processes responsible for backscatter variability from the sea ice. Field research was undertaken during cruises aboard the R. V. Nathaniel B. Palmer in the Ross, Amundsen and Bellingshausen seas in 1993 and 1994. In 1993 a C-band and L-band scatterometer was used to obtain in situ backscatter data; the scatterometer operation and ice observations and measurements were concurrent with ERS-1 data acquisition at O’Higgins Base on the Antarctic Peninsula.

NSF Grant OPP91-17721: Scientific personnel; M. O. Jeffries, W. F. Weeks, S. Li, K. Morris, S. Cushing, R. Jaña (Instituto Antartico Chileno), Chuah Teong Sek (University of Kansas), H. R. Krouse (University of Calgary), A. P. Worby and R. Massom (Australian Antarctic CRC).