Bayesian Unsupervised Machine Learning Approach to Segment Arctic Sea Ice Using SMOS Data

Abstract Microwave radiometry at L‐band is sensitive to sea ice thickness (SIT) up to ∼ 60 cm. Current methods to infer SIT depend on ice‐physical properties and data provided by the ESA’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission. However, retrieval accuracy is limited due to seasonally and r...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Christoph Herbert, Adriano Camps, Florian Wellmann, Mercedes Vall‐llossera
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2021-03-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091285
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850205166808072192
author Christoph Herbert
Adriano Camps
Florian Wellmann
Mercedes Vall‐llossera
author_facet Christoph Herbert
Adriano Camps
Florian Wellmann
Mercedes Vall‐llossera
author_sort Christoph Herbert
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Microwave radiometry at L‐band is sensitive to sea ice thickness (SIT) up to ∼ 60 cm. Current methods to infer SIT depend on ice‐physical properties and data provided by the ESA’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission. However, retrieval accuracy is limited due to seasonally and regionally variable surface conditions during the formation and melting of sea ice. In this work, Arctic sea ice is segmented using a Bayesian unsupervised learning algorithm aiming to recognize spatial patterns by harnessing multi‐incidence angle brightness temperature observations. The approach considers both statistical characteristics and spatial correlations of the observations. The temporal stability and separability of classes are analyzed to distinguish ambiguous from well‐determined regions. Model uncertainty is quantified from class membership probabilities using information entropy. The presented approach opens up a new scope to improve current SIT retrieval algorithms, and can be particularly beneficial to investigate merged satellite products.
format Article
id doaj-art-e7264c3796404e5aacc41f81f8acb128
institution OA Journals
issn 0094-8276
1944-8007
language English
publishDate 2021-03-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-e7264c3796404e5aacc41f81f8acb1282025-08-20T02:11:09ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072021-03-01486n/an/a10.1029/2020GL091285Bayesian Unsupervised Machine Learning Approach to Segment Arctic Sea Ice Using SMOS DataChristoph Herbert0Adriano Camps1Florian Wellmann2Mercedes Vall‐llossera3CommSensLab Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC/CTE‐UPC) Barcelona SpainCommSensLab Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC/CTE‐UPC) Barcelona SpainInstitute for Computational Geoscience and Reservoir Engineering RWTH Aachen University Aachen GermanyCommSensLab Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC/CTE‐UPC) Barcelona SpainAbstract Microwave radiometry at L‐band is sensitive to sea ice thickness (SIT) up to ∼ 60 cm. Current methods to infer SIT depend on ice‐physical properties and data provided by the ESA’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission. However, retrieval accuracy is limited due to seasonally and regionally variable surface conditions during the formation and melting of sea ice. In this work, Arctic sea ice is segmented using a Bayesian unsupervised learning algorithm aiming to recognize spatial patterns by harnessing multi‐incidence angle brightness temperature observations. The approach considers both statistical characteristics and spatial correlations of the observations. The temporal stability and separability of classes are analyzed to distinguish ambiguous from well‐determined regions. Model uncertainty is quantified from class membership probabilities using information entropy. The presented approach opens up a new scope to improve current SIT retrieval algorithms, and can be particularly beneficial to investigate merged satellite products.https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091285Bayesian inferencesea iceSMOSunsupervised learning
spellingShingle Christoph Herbert
Adriano Camps
Florian Wellmann
Mercedes Vall‐llossera
Bayesian Unsupervised Machine Learning Approach to Segment Arctic Sea Ice Using SMOS Data
Geophysical Research Letters
Bayesian inference
sea ice
SMOS
unsupervised learning
title Bayesian Unsupervised Machine Learning Approach to Segment Arctic Sea Ice Using SMOS Data
title_full Bayesian Unsupervised Machine Learning Approach to Segment Arctic Sea Ice Using SMOS Data
title_fullStr Bayesian Unsupervised Machine Learning Approach to Segment Arctic Sea Ice Using SMOS Data
title_full_unstemmed Bayesian Unsupervised Machine Learning Approach to Segment Arctic Sea Ice Using SMOS Data
title_short Bayesian Unsupervised Machine Learning Approach to Segment Arctic Sea Ice Using SMOS Data
title_sort bayesian unsupervised machine learning approach to segment arctic sea ice using smos data
topic Bayesian inference
sea ice
SMOS
unsupervised learning
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091285
work_keys_str_mv AT christophherbert bayesianunsupervisedmachinelearningapproachtosegmentarcticseaiceusingsmosdata
AT adrianocamps bayesianunsupervisedmachinelearningapproachtosegmentarcticseaiceusingsmosdata
AT florianwellmann bayesianunsupervisedmachinelearningapproachtosegmentarcticseaiceusingsmosdata
AT mercedesvallllossera bayesianunsupervisedmachinelearningapproachtosegmentarcticseaiceusingsmosdata