Saline ice thickness retrieval under diurnal thermal cycling conditions

An inversion algorithm is presented to reconstruct ice growth under thermal cycling conditions by using time-series active microwave measurements. The method uses a direct scattering model consisting of a one-dimensional thermodynamic model of saline ice growth that includes thermal interactions with the atmosphere, and a physical-based electromagnetic model that accounts for thermal and electromagnetic properties of ice and combined volume and surface scattering effects. The crucial part of the inversion algorithm is to use sequentially measured radar data together with the direct scattering model to retrieve sea ice parameters. The algorithm is applied to CRRELEX 94 data and successfully reconstruct the evolution of ice growth under a thermal cycling environment.