Young sea ice electric properties estimation in under non-optimal conditions

Sea ice monitoring is important for both climate change studies and potential trans-Arctic shipping. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) has been demonstrated to be a powerful method to retrieve sea ice thickness and gain information about its internal structure. Nevertheless, its applicability can be strongly limited in the case of very low ice thickness and high salinity content. This paper presents results from a field experiment performed under such conditions which integrated GPR data and s-parameters measurements with Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) on artificial sea ice grown at the SERF research site in Winnipeg, Canada. The observed dielectric behavior has been used to monitor sea ice growth, relating the electrical conductivity to temperature evolution and brine content. Results demonstrate the capability of both GPR and VNA techniques in the investigation of sea ice properties under non-ideal conditions.