Sea Ice: Physics And Remote Sensing

An outstanding feature of the book is the study of sea ice crystalline structure. Ice growth history, as inferred from crystalline structure revealed in ice thin-section photographs will be presented in details. This will explain the influence of weather and oceanic conditions on new ice formation, ice growth, aging and decay processes. In addition, it will describe mechanisms of surface processes in young, first-year and multi-year ice (e.g. brine channel interconnection, surface melt water percolation in multi-year ice, the “survival of the fittest” ice crystal during their growth, etc.). The study will also be supported by high quality photographs of ice thin-sections prepared from cores of different ice types (all obtained by the authors during field experiments in 1980s throughout 1990s using photographic cameras and scanning microscopy). Most of these data have not been published. The photographs are quite revealing of geometrical details of crystalline structure and inclusions in sea ice (liquid brine and air bubbles). Scanning microscopy shows the micro-scale contents of those inclusions (e.g. solid salt within brine pockets).

Another unique feature of the book will be linking remote sensing (radiometric) observations to the ice physical properties and crystalline structure. For example, why radar backscatter is high in cross polarization (e.g. HV) from surfaces with geometrical shape (e.g. ice ridges), why microwave emission increases when the ice surface or its snow cover become wet, why backscatter continues to decrease during the surface melt season, etc. Those detailed physical descriptions, which are summarized from previous studies and also developed by the authors based on their own observations, will hold educational value and practical use for people who work on ice parameter retrieval from remote sensing (e.g. remote sensing data assimilation into ice-ocean coupled models). Observations and data obtained during the extensive Canadian Arctic exploration programs that started 1998 (NOW’98 and CASES) will constitute the core information for this theme.

The presentation of sea ice parameter retrieval from remote sensing observations will also be unique in two ways. First, it will focus on reviewing recent methods and results (developed in late 1990s and beyond), which have not been covered in previous reviews. The review will be critical in that it will reveal potential and limitations of applications of such methods not only according to authors but also based on experience of other users. Secondly it will also focus on remote sensing data synergism, allows retrieval of parameters that cannot be otherwise retrieved from a single sensor data set.

The educational value of the book will also be reflected in the presentation style. Each chapter will start with basic principles and continue gradually with more advanced material. The illustrations and high quality photographs will add to the educational value. “Seeing” physical processes that take place during ice formation and growth (e.g. planar or dendritic crystal boundaries in relation to the bulk ice salinity, solid ice within air bubbles in multi-year ice, etc.) will help to develop a permanent impression in the mind of the reader. This should also stimulate wider demand of the book by students and researchers in educational institutes of cryosphere sciences. So far, very few books are available as text books for an academic course on sea ice (most of the book publications on sea ice are monographs on a wide range of aspects, while made cohesive by the editor(s)).

Mohammed Elsayed Shokr is a research scientist in Science and Technology Branch at Environment Canada. He is also affiliated with IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and the CASI Canadian Remote Sensing Society (Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute). His research interests include studying sea ice physical and electrical properties which have greater implications in operational monitoring and climate studies. He also uses remote sensing techniques for sea ice modelling.

Nirmal Sinha is an Engineer at the NRC Institute for Aerospace Research in Ottawa, Ontario. His research focuses on high temperature materials, like ceramics and advanced alloys that are used inside jet engines or gas turbine engines. This involves applying theories and experimental techniques about how snow and ice behaves around its melting point, to aerospace materials such as titanium-based and nickel-based 'superalloys'.