Microwave Dielectric, Structural, and Salinity Properties of Simulated Sea Ice

The crystalline structure, salinity characteristics, and microwave dielectric properties of artificially grown saline ice are presented. The ice was grown in an outdoor pool containing salt water of 23-25%0 salinity. The structure and salinity profiles of this ice sheet closely simulated those found in arctic first-year sea ice. The complex relative dielectric permittivity of slabs removed from the ice sheet was measured at 4.75 GHz as a function of temperature. The slabs were placed between open-end waveguide radiators, and dielectic properties were calculated from the forward scattering coefficient. The results show both the real (ϵ
^'
_{r) and imaginary (ϵ^'r) parts to vary almost in direct proportion to the brine volume with values for ϵ^"r showing more variation, and are compared with the previous work of others on actual sea ice samples.}