Image analyses were used to train and verify the neural network
in this study. The image analyses are ice maps produced
by ice experts from the CIS through visual interpretation of
SAR images [4]. An image analysis is composed of contiguous
polygons that are generated by the ice analyst. Each polygon
is assigned an ice concentration value and fractions of different
ice types manually. The ice concentration values are quantized
by intervals of 0.1 (e.g., ice concentration only has 11 possible
values: 0, 0.1, 0.2, . . ., 0.9, 1). The precision of the image
analysis ice concentration is normally considered to be approximately
10% [4]. Examples of HH- and HV-pol SAR images