Research and Application of Ice Thickness and Snow Depth Automatic Monitoring System

The ice thickness and snow depth are the basic parameters of conventional weather observation, environmental monitoring, and hydrological services in winter. Moreover, they are also classified as the key observation contents of the polar scientific expedition for analyzing global climate changes. In this paper, an ice thickness measuring method based on temperature gradient differences in air, ice, and water and a snow depth detection method based on differences in optical intensity attenuation induced by infrared light going through air or snow are proposed. Based on these methods, a monitoring system was fabricated to monitor the ice and snow in the Heilongjiang River of China, where the ambient temperature is below −30 °C and the river ice is covered with snow in winter. The results indicate that the system achieved a measurement precision of 0.01 m for both the ice thickness (in the range of 0–2 m) and snow depth detection (in the depth range of 0–0.5 m). The proposed system has the potential to be used for real-time monitoring of the growth, melting, and changing processes of river ice and snow.

I. Introduction

Ice dams can be formed when the ice cover front edge is blocked as rivers flow to the shallows, bend, or bayonet. The flow velocities of rivers become slow and the water level rises rapidly after the formed ice dam crosses the ice surface, which can cause ice water overflow. Because of its higher latitude, ice dams are easily formed in the middle and upper reaches of the Heilongjiang River in China. The frozen ice is gradually broken when the weather becomes warmer in spring. Buildings and farmland can be destroyed by the fast-flowing river and broken ice, not only causing great economic loss but also threatening the safety of human lives and property [1], [2]. Snow has a great influence on the climate because it can reduce the sublimation and evaporation of river ice surface due to the heat preservation effect on ice [3]. In addition, the depth of covered snow plays an important role in the process of ice melting and freezing while the melting snow is also an important condition for forming ice floods in spring [4], [5]. Therefore, an automatic system that can measure the ice thickness and snow depth provides a powerful tool for monitoring and prevention of natural disasters as well as for the scientific study of climate change.