Study of Lake Baikal Ice Cover from Radar Altimetry and In-Situ Observations

Comparison of ENVISAT and SARAL missions data shows that AltiKa can be successfully used for ice discrimination methodology and extension of ice conditions time series. Due to shorter wavelength and large bandwidth (480MHz) which leads to a higher sensitivity to different surface conditions, AltiKa shows more clearly the separation between open water and various ice types. We observe significant decrease of backscatter (25-30dB) in late spring for both ENVISAT and SARAL and discuss it in the context of ice metamorphism. There is a clear need to continue and expand our dedicated field studies of lake Baikal ice cover to better assess influence of ice structure on altimetric signal.