An evaluation of an airborne remote sensing system used to determine ice thickness and geometry of a first year sea ice ridge located in the Beaufort Sea
Date
1993
Authors
Bowen, Robert
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Abstract
One dimensional and two dimensional interpretation techniques have been applied to the electromagnetic (EN!) anomalies obtained from a state of the art airborne remote sensing system field tested over a first year ice ridge. This airborne system combines the technology of a laser altimeter, an impulse radar and an electromagnetic induction sounding system in an attempt to accurately measure irregular ice geometry. This paper focuses on the evaluation of the EM component of the airborne system based on a volumetric comparison of the airborne EM interpreted data with extensive ground truth data obtained from submersible sonar surveys and surface theodolite surveys. The overall form of the ridge geometry at the study site was obtained by generating digital terrain models from the ground truth data. Two interpolation routines were used in this process, both yielding similar form and volumetric results. Comparison of the ground truth data with the EM interpreted data indicate that the interpretation techniques poorly resolve ice feature definition. Raw EM anomalies records overlaid onto appropriate cross sections of the ridge suggest that the resolution of the system is far better than the interpreted data would suggest. It is, therefore, recommended that further development of EM interpretation techniques over ice keels be made.