Study of formation of Lena River ice cover according of decade measurements by GPR

Transformation of ice cover relief occurs during its freeze-up and by the action of hydro-meteorological factors. This article is dedicated to study of the formation of the Lena River ice cover based on a decade measurements in the hydrological station “Tabaga” (distance is 2 km). Two methods were applied for measuring the thickness of river ice: drilling method and GPR method. GPR data were obtained by GPR OKO-2 with antenna unit AB-400 (“Logis” LLC., Russia). Discrete drilling data (step is 100 m) and continuous GPR data of decade river - ice thickness measurements (distance between the probe points is 1 m) were presented. GPR data has shown an increase of average value of ice thickness from 93 cm to 142 cm from December to April, which corresponds to observations from the drilling data. Continuous GPR data provides more information and it reflects changes of river ice relief much more exactly than the drilling data. The ability of GPR for determining the dynamics of the seasonal variations in thickness of the Lena River ice cover is demonstrated.