ICEWAVEGUIDE

Radar methods require the use of an electromagnetic antenna moved above the surface of the ice. The electromagnetic wave propagates in the ice and is reflected at its boundaries. A profile of the ice thickness is thus obtained along the positions of the antenna. The accuracy of thickness estimation depends on the wavelength, but also on the ability to discriminate between echoes from actual sea ice bottom and others potential reflections for example at the interface between snow and ice. Another approach, radar altimetry, is based on measures from an aircraft or satellite (Tilling et al., 2016) to estimate the freeboard of sea ice, which can be converted to thickness, provided ice density as well as the thickness and density of the overlying snow are known. (Laxon et al, 2003). While radar altimetry allows accurate thickness variations to be measured in ice shelves, improving the accuracy in sea ice is still an on-going research topic. Currently, only an average sea ice thickness can be estimated with limited accuracy. The main problems are essentially to find the best conversion factor to turn freeboard into thickness, and also to identify the correct wave reflection to use for freeboard measurement.