New technique will improve the construction of ice roads and bridges


Date:
February 10, 2022
Source:
University of Waterloo
Summary:
A new study found that measuring the time it takes for a radar
pulse to travel from a satellite to the sea surface and back again
can reveal the thickness of river ice and dates when it is safe
to travel on ice roads and bridges in Arctic regions.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A new study found that measuring the time it takes for a radar pulse to
travel from a satellite to the sea surface and back again can reveal
the thickness of river ice and dates when it is safe to travel on ice
roads and bridges in arctic regions.


==========================================================================
Many northern communities in Canada rely on the network of ice roads
built on frozen lakes and rivers to transport goods and for food
security. However, the sustainability of these roads is at risk due to
climate warming causing shorter ice seasons and thinner ice.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo used the technique called
radar altimetry, which also helps in understanding the ways frozen
rivers enhance interconnection and supplies to various cities with ice
covers. River ice is a major component of the planet's ecosystem that
plays a key role in the functioning of the aquatic system and affects the operation of hydropower stations as well as construction and navigation.

"Many remote villages that are linked in summer to supply centres only
via expensive aircraft or boat transport can directly access the primary
land transport arteries built on frozen ground and lake or river ice,"
said Claude Duguay, professor of Geography and Environmental Management
at Waterloo. "The value of the ice roads is the highest for the icy
regions where the construction of permanent bridges is restrained by
the presence of permafrost and its destabilization." The researchers
used data from two altimetric satellite missions, Jason-2 and Jason-3
to develop and validate algorithms for retrieving river ice phenology
dates and ice thickness over an area encompassing the lower reaches of
the Ob River in Siberia, Russia.

Comparing the dates of the altimetry-derived melt start with those of
the ice state flags provided by gauging stations, the researchers found
that the manual routine of their algorithm accurately detected the start
of ice thermal degradation.

The study shows that various factors can affect the radar return echoes
and consequently the accuracy of the river ice thickness retrievals in
arctic regions.

"One of the main advantages of satellite altimetry compared with
imaging synthetic aperture radar is the relative ease in processing the measurements over the large hemispheric-scale domain," Duguay said.

The algorithm they developed for the ice phenology dates can be applied to other rivers, lakes and bogs because it is independent of the availability
of on-site observations.

The study showed that the obtained empirical relations between the
on-site data and satellite backscatter measurements are similar for
different river segments, especially for the long river reaches.

The study was recently published in The Cryosphere, an international
scientific journal of European Geoscience Union.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Waterloo. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Elena Zakharova, Svetlana Agafonova, Claude Duguay, Natalia Frolova,
Alexei Kouraev. River ice phenology and thickness from satellite
altimetry: potential for ice bridge road operation and climate
studies.

The Cryosphere, 2021; 15 (12): 5387 DOI: 10.5194/tc-15-5387-2021 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220210084948.htm

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