Inversion of surface contacting antenna measurements for sea ice complex permittivity reconstruction

Abstract

The need to monitor geophysical properties of first year ice (FYI) in the Arctic is increasing as this type of sea ice becomes more prevalent. One such method of monitoring the Arctic is the use of electromagnetic remote sensing techniques. These methods determine dielectric properties of the illuminated sea ice by interpreting how the electromagnetic waves interact within the medium. In the literature, there are empirical formulas relating these dielectric properties to the geophysical properties of the sea ice. The contributions of this research are the development and testing of a surface based active microwave remote sensor to monitor sea ice growth in the winter through the reconstruction of the time series complex permittivity profile of FYI.