Seasonal assessment of the dynamics of sea ice based on aerospace data on Livingston Island, New Shetland Islands in Antarctica and Longyearbyen in the Arctic

Sea ice plays a major role in our planet’s climate. It’ acts as a reflector of solar energy, mainly in spring and summer. Sea ice covered with fresh snow can reflect 75-90% of solar energy, the open sea reflects just 5-15%. Sea ice acts as an insulator in autumn and winter. This insulating effect limits the amount of both heat and moisture the ocean loses to the atmosphere. The declining sea ice disrupts the climate, societies and fauna of Polar areas, but encourages the econcmic and industrial development. The relevance of this study is related to current trends in the use of remote sensing in solving problems of a different nature in environmental monitoring. The sea ice was analyzed and mapped according to the European Space Agency data (ESA), acquired by sensors of Sentinel-1 SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar), Sentinel- 2MSI (Multi Spectral Instrument), Sentinel- 3 and GIS. The subject of the study is to demonstrate the dynamics, during the summer season from 2015 to 2019, around the coastline of Livingston Island, New Shetland Islands in Antarctica and Longyearbyen in the Arctic. Changes in environmental objects are indicated by radar images through different processing approaches. The results clearly show that sea ice melting can be best recorded by using SAR data through the C-band. The results obtained are data in the form of thematic maps showing the spatial reflectance of sea ice and its dynamics over time.