Satellite Technologies Applied to Hydrometeorological Problems in the Arctic Region

Abstract

The study provides the overview of the Russian and foreign Earth satellite observation systems used to monitor the Arctic region. The plans of development of Russian hydrometeorological constellation in the next years are outlined. A brief description of the Arktika-M satellite system is presented. The informational prospects are discussed of using IR data from MSU-IK-SRM scanning radiometer installed onboard Kanopus-V-IK satellite to monitor the Arctic sea ice. Various techniques of satellite data processing developed and used in the Planeta Research Center for Space Hydrometeorology are presented including the plotting of raster and vector Arctic sea ice maps, the maps of automated detection and classification of Arctic ice structures with multispectral imagery, sea ice drift, and sea ice boundaries in the Arctic region and its Russian sector. The long-term satellite datasets on Arctic sea ice mapping are analyzed, sea ice reduction is revealed. Map validation results for the Arctic sea ice boundaries obtained from Russian and foreign satellite data are presented.