PULSE TRANSMISSION THROUGH FROZEN SILT

VHF-band radiowave short pulses were transmitted within the permafrost tunnel at Fox, Alaska, over distances between 2.2 and 10.5 m. The propagation medium was a frozen silt containing both disseminated and massive ice with temperatures varying from -7 deg C near the transmitter to probably -2 deg C near the center of the tunnel overburden. The short pulses underwent practically no dispersion in the coldest zones but did disperse and refract through the warmer overburden, as suggested by calculations of the effective dielectric constant. Most significantly the measured frequency content decreased as the effective dielectric constant increased. The resuls indicate that deep, cross-borehole pulse transmissions over distances greater than 10 m might be possible, especially when the ground is no warmer than -4 deg C. The information thus gained could be used for identifying major subsurface variations, including ground ice features. (Author)

• Corporate Authors:

  U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory

  72 Lyme Road
  Hanover, NH  United States  03755-1290
• Authors:
  • Arcone, S A
• Publication Date: 1984-7

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 14 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Detection and identification; Detectors; Dielectric properties; Frozen soils; Groundwater; Ice; Overburdens; Permafrost; Radio waves; Silts; Temperature
• Old TRIS Terms: Dispersion; Transmittance
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; I41: General Soil Surveys;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00393777
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: CRREL 84-17
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 31 1985 12:00AM