Impulse Radar Sounding of Level First-Year Sea Ice from an Icebreaker

摘要

During the weeks of May 1984, a CRREL impulse radar system was used onboard the R V Polarstern to measure the thickness of level first-year sea ice. The purpose was to determine the onboard performance of the radar system and, if possible, provide ice thickness information to researchers conducting other tests. Radar data were compared with ice thickness determined by drilling, indicating that radar soundings could be a viable means of collecting ice thickness information, A lack of adequate coordination between the two measurements methods prevented a point-by-point comparison of ice thicknesses; the comparisons were based on averages for particular test runs. The differences of the averages for the two measuring methods ranged from 0.03 m to 0.22 m with a mean variation in the differences of 0.13 m fore eight runs. There may have been some interference from the ship's hull during data collection because of the location of the antenna. However, an unidentified signal in some of the data does not appear to obscure a valid return from the bottom of the ice sheet. (Author)