January 2 1993

In the upper and lower parts of the SAR image, bright homogeneous areas are recognized as wind blown open water. In these areas, also dark features are present, which is probably open water with less wind influence, new ice or grease ice. These areas appear as open water in the SSM/I image.
In the central right hand side of the SAR image, a mixture of dark/bright circular patterns are present. These patterns are probably related to ocean currents, and perhaps caused by convection phenomena. This area is assumed to consist of open water or grease ice, together with a low concentration of pancake ice. The pancakes form the bright lines while the water or grease ice forms the dark parts.
In the central left hand side, a bright area with some darker features are seen. The bright areas are probably wind blown open water, while the darker parts are either grease ice or a low concentration of pancake ice. The SSM/I image shows, that some ice can be present in this area.