Abstract

Profiling Lake Ice Using GIS, GPS, and Ground Penetrating Radar
Track: Petroleum
Authors: William Kiechle, Tom Donley

The GPR was used to collect individual ice depth profiles (by determining the interface between Ice and Liquid Water) for a selected portion of Six Mile Lake, Anchorage AK. The depth data was collected concurrently with ice core extraction and the GPR derived result and the ice cores correlated favorably. Global Positioning Survey (GPS) information and depth data from the GPR were incorporated into a GIS data table and interpolated to provide surface data that displayed the ice depth within the study area. This data has been used to calculate the strength of the ice to determine its capacity to support heavy machinery and equipment in the case of an oil spill. Additionally, there is the possibility to model the behavior of petroleum products under the ice that can be used to develop tactics for oil containment and recovery.