May 17 2024

In 1998 RSD contracted with a company to acquire interferometric synthetic aperture radar (IFSAR) at Yakutat Bay, Alaska. This experiment was designed to compare the results of airborne IFSAR to photogrammetry for use in shoreline mapping operations in the fjords of southeast Alaska. Experiments continue in 2000 with another IFSAR collection in Icy Bay, Alaska.

 
The image at left is a 3D surface view of a 10 meter resolution digital elevation model (DEM) derived from airborne IFSAR. The data were collected in October of 1998.  
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The image at right is a 3D view of an ortho-rectified image draped on an IFSAR digital elevation model (DEM). The blue vector represents shoreline compiled by the contractor from the radar imagery. The red vector represents NGS shoreline compiled from photogrammetry. This image illustrates some of the issues associated with compiling shoreline from radar imagery. The island located in the center of the image was compiled as land, however upon inspection of the photography it can be identified as floating ice.

Click image for a full resolution view