Author(s): Patrick I. Finlay; Neil S. Parry; Samuel A. Proskin
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Abstract: Winter ice roads are built on water bodies in the Arctic to transport goods and machinery to otherwise isolated mines and communities. Ice thickness is one of the major factors that contribute to safe ice road travel. By continuously profiling the ice with Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), thin areas can be detected by measuring the time it takes the electromagnetic pulse to travel to the ice-water contact; then converting this time to depth using the ice's dielectric constant. Traditionally, for calibration purposes, an auger hole is drilled in the ice and its depth is used to back calculate the dielectric constant of the ice. This calibration method gave a fairly accurate indication of ice thickness. However, changes in the ice's dielectric properties are primarily a function of temperature and density. Therefore, with larger data sets, greater separations in latitude, and differences in the ice's formation, the dielectric is in constant flux. EBA Engineering Ltd. has developed a new radar system that can directly measure the ice's dielectric while profiling. As well as ice data, bathymetry data is also colleted to analyze the relationship between water depth and the formation of ice. This paper uses ice road data collected by the new and old radar systems and looks at what factors, including bathymetric, lay behind the ice’s varying properties.
Year: 2008