Summary
The snow cover on sea ice is an integral component of the sea ice environment. It accumulates throughout the year and has a significant impact on the surface energy balance due to its high albedo and insulative properties. It also affects the level of light penetration to the underside of the ice, which is a known habitat for sea ice algae. While satellite altimetry is an essential tool for monitoring changes in sea ice over time, accurate measurements of snow thickness are essential for verifying space-based sea ice thickness measurements. Helicopter-borne measurements are a promising way of achieving these verifications. The resolution of snow-cover thickness measurements made using a helicopter-borne FMCW radar is affected by radar characteristics such as its transmitted frequency stability and linearity, and the polar diagrams of its antennas. Operational parameters also affect these measurements through interactions between radar characteristics and aircraft height and speed. Finally, the nature of the snow surface can act to smear the altitude response or modulate the returned signal during the course of a scan. A numerical model of such a radar is being developed to assess the role the above (and other) factors play on the quality and utility of snow cover thickness measurement, with particular emphasis on its use in the sea-ice zone. In this poster, the model will be described and the results for an ideal radar will be presented. The impact of real-world limitations will then be described. Strategies for overcoming these limitations will be considered.