Ultrasonic Investigation of Snow and Ice Parameters

In the paper some ultrasonic methods of measurement of sound velocity and attenuation in snow and ice media are presented. The measurement setup consists of ultrasonic airborne transducers working at the frequency of f = 40 kHz. A non-contact method of reflection coefficient on air-snow border was applied during measurement of different types of snow in the density range of 120-700 kg/$m^3$. Examples of obtained signals are also presented. It was proved that there is a linear dependence between reflection coefficient and snow density. The state of snow or ice layer is not precisely correlated with their acoustical parameters: ultrasound wave velocity and attenuation of ultrasonic wave during the measurement of the layer depth using the non-contact method. Reflection coefficient of snow can be used for estimation of snow density.