Toronto, ON

• Main Authors: I. K. Peterson, S. J. Prinsenberg, J. S. Holladay
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic; Labrador Shelf; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.454.7859; http://www.bio.gc.ca/science/research-recherche/ocean/ice-glace/documents/peterson11.pdf

Helicopter-borne electromagnetic (HEM) induction systems provide a means to measure sea ice thickness along flight paths covering a large area in a short period of time, and make the data available in real-time for incorporation into operational ice charts. Ice surface elevation profiles are also collected with a laser altimeter contained in the system. With the introduction of the fix-mounted HEM system, the logistics of collecting the data is greatly simplified, the footprint size is reduced, and more accurate measurements of level ice thickness can be obtained as spot samples. Recent experiments in the Canadian Arctic, Labrador Shelf region and Gulf of St. Lawrence have demonstrated that HEM ice thickness and surface elevation data are also valuable for validating algorithms for ice type identification in SAR (synthetic aperture radar) imagery. HEM systems will continue to be used to validate new SAR products such as dual-polarisation imagery now available from ENVISAT, and quad-polarisation imagery planned with the launch