Abstract: Based on the requirement of the ice thickness change,in the natural science space and time,about the resources and environments of lake,river,sea and glacier ices and in the engineering science,the structures safe operation of the ice infested waters in winter,the advantages,the drawbacks and the favorable situations of the ice thickness measurements with the modern techniques are summarized.The obtained data lack the long time monitoring,and their accurate cannot reach the stndard,mm,so these data cannot support the set-up or modification of the forecast model forice mass balance in different environments. Therefore some new techniques for ice thickness changes are developed. They are direct contacing equipment for interfaces in an ice sheet,and the rulers for measuring air,ice and water's electric conductivity. These methods can obtain the higher accuracy the ice and snow's freezing and melting processes.This paper gives their work principle,the research advances,the useful case of ice conditions and the preliminary results from the practice in the ice of the polar sea and inland rivers.