Research of radiation and radar characteristics of a growing ice cover

Remote methods of monitoring terrestrial and water objects in the microwave range, both active and passive, are widely used at present. One of such objects is the ice cover, which is associated with the development of the Arctic and the Subarctic, as well as in connection with the climate change on the planet. For this reason, knowledge of the radia- tion and scattering characteristics of the ice cover in the microwave range is an urgent task. In this paper, we describe a technique for the simultaneous measurement of the radiothermal radiation and the backscattering coefficient of the growing ice cover. The technique is that measurements are made alternately of the power of the radiothermal radiation and the power of backscattering from the medium under study, and the radiation is received on the same horn antenna. Receiving of electromagnetic radiation was carried out using a microwave radiometer on two linear polarizations: horizontal and vertical. The switching time between the active and passive measurements was 10 minutes. Measure- ments of the radar and radiative characteristics of the growing fresh ice cover at a wavelength of 2.3 cm have been performed. It is shown that the active and passive radiolocation of the investigated object carries a complementary information. Radiometric measurements show interference, which is associated with a change in the thickness of the ice cover. Active radar methods record inhomogeneities comparable to the wavelength, which was confirmed in this paper, using the example of ice cover. This method of research (simultaneous measurements of the radiation and scattering properties of the medium in the microwave range) can be used at various objects where quasistatic processes are observed, for example, when measuring vegetation, drying, freezing or moistening of the soil cover, etc.