ICEMAPPER: AVHRR Satellite Imagery of Antarctic Sea Ice for Classification

The ICEMAPPER system was developed by AU_AADC to create semi-automated sea-ice and cloud maps from NOAA AVHRR imagery. The system applies classification rules to five spectral bands to categorize pixels as open water, low cloud, high cloud, or sea ice concentrations. The dataset, last updated in March 1997, represents a prototype operational mapping system for the Southern Ocean near the Antarctic coast.

Use Cases

• Developing automated sea ice detection algorithms based on the five-band AVHRR imagery described.
• Training or benchmarking pixel classification models for categories like open water, low cloud, high cloud, and sea ice concentrations.
• Improving cloud classification rules in remote sensing systems, as noted in the description.
• Studying semi-automated expert systems where human experts can adjust rule parameters to refine outputs.

Strengths

• Focuses on a specific, challenging remote sensing application: classifying sea ice and clouds in the Antarctic Southern Ocean.
• The system uses five spectral bands from AVHRR imagery, which suggests a multi-spectral data foundation.
• Describes a semi-automated, interactive system where expert feedback can refine classification parameters.

Limitations

• Last updated 1997-03-31 23:59:59.999000; freshness should be verified.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• The system reportedly does not accurately distinguish high cloud from low cloud in some images, indicating a known classification challenge.

Provenance

Source

AU_AADC via nasa_earthdata platform.

Collection Method

Developed from NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite imagery.

Time Range

The prototype system was developed and tested prior to the last update date of March 1997.

Freshness

Last updated 1997-03-31 23:59:59.999000.

Geography

Southern Ocean near the Antarctic coast.