Open Access

ARTICLE

Observation Parameter Selection and Long Integration Time Effect Evaluation for Moon-Based SAR in Polar Sea Ice Monitoring: A Ground-Based Scattering Experiment

Huiying Liu^1,2, Wenjin Wu^1,2,3,*, Yaqi Geng^1,2,3, Zhiqu Liu⁴, Xiulai Xiao⁴, Huadong Guo^1,2,3

1 CAS Key Laboratory of Digital Earth Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
2 International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals, Beijing, China
3 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
4 Laboratory of Target Microwave Properties, Deqing Academy of Satellite Applications, Huzhou, China

* Corresponding Author: Wenjin Wu. Email:

Revue Internationale de Géomatique 2026, 35, 121-130. https://doi.org/10.32604/rig.2026.075844

Received 10 November 2025; Accepted 26 January 2026; Issue published 04 March 2026

Abstract

Moon-based Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is particularly suitable for monitoring polar regions because of its consistent and continuous imaging. It has promising applications in the observation of sea ice by capturing rapid freeze-thaw cycles in the Arctic and Antarctic. However, the long synthetic aperture time inherent in Moon-based SAR may lead to image defocusing due to water fluctuations. Additionally, large incidence angles during observations in polar regions can result in weak backscatter from sea ice, thereby affecting the signal-to-noise ratio and ice–water discrimination. In this study, a ground-based experiment was conducted to evaluate the impact of imaging characteristics. Dissimilarity measures were employed to assess the ice–water discrimination performance under different SAR parameters. The results showed that VV polarization provides higher accuracy in ice–water discrimination compared to HH, HV, and VH polarizations in the C band. Incidence angles of 30–60° ensure effective backscatter of ice in quad-polarization. Underwater fluctuation scenarios, ice and water can still be distinguished in the SAR images. These findings provide insights into the imaging behavior of Moon-based SAR and support the optimization of the system design for polar sea ice monitoring.

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Keywords

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