Development of a Portable Ice-Thickness Measuring Instrument

摘要

A portable instrument that can be manually placed in contact with the surface ofan ice-covered body of water to non-obtrusively measure the ice thickness was developed. The instrument design is based on determining ice thickness from microwave frequency signals which are transmitted through the ice and reflect from the ice/water interface. Prior methods include drilling through the ice to manually measure its thickness and using radar equipment which is costly, time consuming, and which produces data often difficult to interpret. The ice measuring instrument produced under this contract meets its goals for performance and physical characteristics. Measurement range exceeds the required 2 to 24 inches with 1/2 inch accuracy. Ice measurements take 12 seconds on average, thickness processing takes 10 seconds, and calibration is performed in under 30 seconds. The instrument is fully portable; it is powered by an internal, rechargeable battery. The instrument is built into a transit case, which also houses accessories. Ice measurement, Permittivity, Dielectric constant, Reflection analyzer, Reflectometer, Microwave.