Investigation of new technologies for in-situ ice thickness observation

Ice thickness is the most fundamentally integrative and crucial parameter for the investigation involving ice science and ice engineering.It is necessary to develop the new technologies for the fixed site monitoring ice thickness according to the multi-applied motive.This objective has now been achieved with the development of three new technologies.Based on the principle of these new technologies and their applications in field or in the laboratory,their applicability and advantage are discussed.The precision of the apparatus based on the magnetostrictive delay line technique reaches to ±2mm,which solves the crucial problem imvlved in developing and modifying the ice mass equilibrium rmdel.The technology based on resistance is more effective than the method based on temperature profile measurement for ice thickness detecting;and it has the potential for measuring mass equilibrium on the surface of ice glacier and monitoring water level under river ice,lake ice and resemvir ice associated with ice thickness.It is expedient and cost-efficient for the manufacture,and disposed in field of the hot-wire ice thickness gauge,thus it can be popularized in the small hydrological observation stations in the north of China.