RADARSAT-1 IPY Legacy Datasets Available

by Rebecca Sanches, Alaska Satellite Facility

In 1952, a scientist named Lloyd Berkner recognized that the upcoming maximum in the sunspot cycle could prove to be significant to earth sciences. As a result, he proposed the first International Geophysical Year (IGY), a systematic study of the Earth, from pole to pole, that began in 1957. Modeled after the previous International Polar Years (IPY), the IGY was highly successful due to both dedicated researchers and advancements in technology.

Our understanding of the Earth and its processes was improved because researchers collaboratively focused their research. While the work was carried out globally, there was increased interest in the poles, especially in the Antarctic region. Research opportunities drew people to Antarctica and they arrived in numbers like never seen before. IGY was a clear-cut success, and paved the way for scientists who look to the poles to understand global and regional geophysical changes.

The current IPY (2007-2009) celebrates the 50th anniversary of the IGY by continuing the interdisciplinary science and the spirit of international cooperation that characterized past IPY and IGY efforts. Today, with more than 60 countries participating and over 200 research projects underway, the current IPY is moving forward in its effort to facilitate our understanding of changes at the poles and how those changes affect the rest of the world.

The Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF), in a joint effort with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), National Air and Space Agency (NASA), and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, has identified datasets that will be useful to researchers. These data will be made available to the international research community on an unrestricted basis. ASF has been collecting Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data for more than 15 years, giving United States’ (U.S.) researchers access to the data through agreements between NASA and the European Space Agency, the CSA, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Researchers are discovering new ways to use SAR for their projects. While ASF is currently providing datasets acquired on RADARSAT-1 for IPY distribution, it offers other valuable datasets from the Japanese Earth Resources Satellite (JERS), European Remote Sensing Satellites 182 (ERS-1, ERS-2), Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) and Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) (SAR and optical). The unique capability of SAR to image through any weather, day or night, makes these datasets especially valuable for polar studies. The data enables researchers to access information regarding dangerous or inaccessible areas and gives them the capability to see the effects of climate change in Arctic and Antarctic regions, without costly expeditions, and without taking unnecessary risks.

ASF’s goal is to continue to make these data available beyond the current IPY to a new generation of researchers interested in studying the Arctic or Antarctic. The RADARSAT-1 data was previously only available with permission from NASA and only to U.S. researchers. However, well-defined datasets will now be available to researchers during the IPY. These datasets allow researchers and educators to see global changes, both historic and current. They give us glimpses of human impact on the environment. They allow us to observe natural phenomena such as glacier and ice-shelf motions, wind effects on ocean surfaces, and regional flooding.

ASF has made access to the data fast and simple. Access can be found at: http://www.asf.alaska.edu/ipy/. For questions, please contact the ASF User Services Office via e-mail at uso@asf.alaska.edu or by phone at (907) 474-6166.

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