Imaging of firn and bubbly ice in coaxial reflected light: a new technique for the characterization of these porous media

• Main Authors: Arnaud, Laurent, Gay, Michel, Barnola, Jean-Marc, Duval, Paul
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 1998
• Subjects: [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-GEO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; [SDU.STU.GP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00645895; https://hal.science/hal-00645895/document; https://hal.science/hal-00645895/file/igs_journal_vol44_issue147_pg326-332.pdf

International audience A new technique for characterizing the structure of firn and bubbly ice is presented. This technique, based on observation of etched (sublimation) surfaces in coax­ ial reflected light, enables one to see simultaneously the pore network of the firn or bubbles in the ice and the crystal boundaries. At the same time, the main stages of image proces­ sing used to transform the initial photographs into clean binary images are described.