Polar Research at UW Oceanography

All available MODIS and RADARSAT imagery was regridded to the SSM/I polar stereographic grid. Reference images were identified on the following dates:

MODIS image on 20000415 (B15 and B17)
RADARSAT image on 20000805 (B15A, B15B and B17)
MODIS image on 20000917 (B15A, B15B, B15D, B17)

For each reference image, the iceberg outlines were digitized and stored as complex vectors. Then for each usable MODIS or RADARSAT image, and for each applicable iceberg, one pair of corresponding points was identified between the image and the appropriate reference image. From these, a rotation r and displacement d were calculated. The complex vectors r and d were then interpolated over the ice season to produce a daily time series. For each day, the iceberg position P = r Pref + d is then calculated, where Pref is the reference position.

Interpolated iceberg positions at 3-day intervals (wireframe plot)

Animations: