ABoVE: AirSWOT Ka-band Radar over Surface Waters of Alaska and Canada, 2017

Flights targeted specific surface water features, including rivers, lakes, ponds, and wetlands in the ABoVE domain. The radar data include six products: elevation (above the WGS84 ellipsoid), incidence angle, magnitude (backscatter), interferometric correlation (coherence), DHDPHI (incidence angle dependent height sensitivity), and error (estimated height random error, 1-sigma standard deviation).

The flight lines were selected to span a full spectrum of permafrost conditions (permafrost-free to continuous permafrost, low to high ground ice content), ecosystems, climatic regions, topographic relief, and geological substrates across the ABoVE domain to investigate surface water responses to thawing permafrost and spatial and temporal variability in terrestrial water storage by measuring elevation and extent of surface waters.