Jet Propulsion Laboratory

California Institute of Technology

Issue no. 1 (May, 1999)

We are happy to announce the availability of RGPS products derived from two cycles (15 and 16 — 48 days) of RADARSAT imagery. This first data set, which covers the Arctic Ocean inside the reception mask of the Alaska SAR Facility, includes the following products:

1. Lagrangian ice motion
2. Ice age histograms
3. Ice thickness histograms
4. Ice deformation
5. Backscatter histograms

These products can be found at the RGPS Web Site:

(http://www-radar.jpl.nasa.gov/rgps/radarsat.html).

RGPS products from data acquired over the Tromso Satellite Station will be released at a later date.

The first fully calibrated RADARSAT ScanSAR images were delivered to us in mid-November,1998. After approximately a month or so of system tests and product verification, we started the production RGPS data sets in January 1999. We are currently processing one cycle of RADARSAT data every 30 days. The schedule for product release is approximately one month after the completion of the processing of each cycle of data. This one month is used for verification of the derived products.

Cycle 17 will be completed on May 20, 1999. After Cycle 18, we will take one month to produce the ice motion measurements around the SHEBA camp for the period between July and October. Routine processing of the data from the winter of 1996-1997 resumes at the end of this month.

A duplicate RGPS system has been installed at ASF. This system will start producing RGPS data sets from the winter of 1997-1998 in the June timeframe.

We plan to have a working group meeting later this fall. You will be receiving an invitation within the next several weeks.