CUTLASS HF RADAR OBSERVATIONS OF THE ODDEN ICE TONGUE

This paper presents a comparison of the observation of sea ice in the Odden area of the Greenland sea, obtained through analysis of Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) data from the Defence Meteorological S atellite Program (DMSP), and ground backscatter data from the Iceland station of the Cooperative UK Twin Located Auroral Sounding System (CU TLASS). The observation of sea ice extent in the HF radar data, when c ompared with the satellite data may provide information concerning the development of this ice feature, which is an important element of the oceanic convection processes in the area. Examination of a few days o f radar data from the latter part of 1996 clearly illustrates the evol ution of the sea ice in a complementary observation technique to the s atellite data. The radar scattering process responsible for the manife station of the Odden ice tongue within the radar data can be described by the combination of the effect of the sea ice on the sea surface wa ve activity and the angle of elevation the incident radar wave vector makes to this surface.