Ice jam detection and flood monitoring using airborne synthetic aperture radar: Saint John River, New Brunswick, 1987

The Saint John River flood of April, 1987 was a dramatic example of ice jam flooding. At the peak of the flood, the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing acquired synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery along most of the river's course. This study contributes to the investigation of the potential of SAR in ice jam detection and flood monitoring. Software is developed for digital image geocoding and display on a personal computer, thus facilitating the comparison of SAR imagery with other georeferenced spatial data.;It is shown that synthetic aperture radar offers a unique capability of providing all-weather, ice jam detection and flood monitoring. It is concluded that the software required for ice jam detection and flood monitoring can be successfully integrated to provide the geographic information desired.