SUBMARINE ICE THICKNESS AND PROFILING SYSTEM

A PHASE I STUDY IS PROPOSED TO VERIFY THE TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY AND REFINE THE CONCEPT DESIGN FOR A SUBMARINE-INSTALLED ICE THICKNESS AND PROFILING MEASUREMENT SYSTEM. THE SYSTEM IN REAL-TIME WILL PROVIDE A CONTINUOUSLY UPDATED 3-D DISPLAY OF THE UNDER-ICE SURFACE PLUS ACCURATE MEASUREMENT OF ICE THICKNESS. THE SYSTEM PROVIDES IMMEDIATE AND NECESSARY INFORMATION FOR THROUGH-ICE DEPLOYMENT AND FOR HIGHSPEED MANEUVERS UNDER THE PACK ICE. THE DESIGN CONCEPT IN A MORE SIMPLIFIED FORM, HAS DIRECT APPLICATION TO SEABED DEPLOYED ICE MEASUREMENT EQUIPMENT. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM UTILIZES A VARIABLE LOWFREQUENCY PARAMETRIC SONAR APPROACH TO DETERMINE THE OVERHEAD ICE THICKNESS. THE SYSTEM ALSO DEPICTS A REAL-TIME 3-D PROJECTION OF THE UNDER-ICE SURFACE. THE ESTIMATED PROFILING RANGE AND ICE THICKNESS CAPABILITY ARE 1,000 METERS TO 10 METERS, RESPECTIVELY. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF PHASE I WOULD LEAD INTO A BREADBOAD DEMONSTRATION AND PRELIMINARY DESIGN PREREQUISITE TO OPERATIONAL DEPLOYMENT.