River Ice Cover Maps from Radar Satellites for Flood Prevention

Ice cover classification maps derived from radar satellite imagery for monitoring river ice and preventing ice jam floods. Data is processed for main at-risk rivers, with images added several times weekly from sources including Radarsat 2 (2018-2022), Radarsat Constellation Mission (2024-present), and Sentinel-1 (2018-present). The dataset classifies ice into types such as Water, Smooth Ice, and Consolidated Ice based on surface and internal roughness.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal changes in ice cover classes like Smooth Ice and Consolidated Ice to model spring flood risks.
• Train a model to classify radar image pixels into the defined ice types (Water, Water/Smooth Ice, Smooth Ice, Consolidated Ice) for automated ice monitoring.
• Compare ice classification results from different satellite sources (Radarsat 2 at 7m, RCM at 5m, Sentinel-1 at 12.5m resolution) to assess algorithm consistency.
• Map the spatial distribution of Consolidated Ice with Clusters to identify areas of high roughness and potential ice jam formation.

Strengths

• Provides continuous monitoring capability regardless of cloud cover using radar satellites.
• Multi-year temporal coverage from 2018 to the present across three satellite missions.
• Offers multiple spatial resolutions: 5m (RCM), 7m (Radarsat 2), and 12.5m (Sentinel-1).
• Data is updated several times a week, supporting near-real-time observation.

Limitations

• Data coverage is limited to main rivers at risk, not all waterways.
• Revisit frequency for a specific river can vary between 2 days and 2 weeks, creating temporal gaps.
• RCM data from 2022-2023 is labeled as indicative, with full algorithm processing only available from 2024 onward.

Provenance

Source

Government and Municipalities of Québec, via partnership with Public Safety Canada and MSP.

Collection Method

Derived from radar satellite images (Radarsat 2, RCM, Sentinel-1) using classification algorithms (ICEMAP-r, Arctus).

Time Range

2018 to present, with specific periods for each satellite source.

Freshness

Updated several times a week, with last platform update in March 2026.

Geography

Main rivers at risk, primarily in Québec, Canada.