Active and Passive Microwave Remote Sensing of Ice Internal Thermophysical Properties: from Earth Polar Region to Icy Moon

Ice internal thermophysical properties are key factors in the study of dynamics and thermodynamics of ice sheet. Due to the capability of microwave to penetrate ice, several studies have illustrated the feasibility of using active and passive microwave remote sensing approaches to determine the ice internal thermophysical properties, such as temperature profile of ice sheet. On one hand, based on the sensitivity difference across different frequencies to different depth, multifrequency brightness temperature can be used to retrieve ice sheet internal temperature profile. On the other hand, the radar attenuation derived by the ice penetrating radar echo is also strongly correlated with ice temperature. Thus, several studies have tried to develop combined active and passive remote sensing approaches to make better constraints of ice sheet internal temperature profile. In our recent study, a combined active and passive retrieval algorithm for ice sheet internal temperature profile has been developed and demonstrated with ultrawideband radiometer and ice penetrating radar data on Greenland, and an active and passive microwave suite named ICE Penetrating Radar and Thermal Profiler (ICEPATH) including ice penetrating radar and ultrawideband radiometer system is also developed, aiming to detect the internal structure and physical properties of ice sheets and glaciers. This naturally leads us to wonder whether such active and passive microwave remote sensing approaches can be used to make detection of ice shell internal thermophysical properties on icy moons. This study aims to explore the application of active and passive microwave remote sensing approaches on earth polar region in icy moon detection, discussing the mechanism and feasibility of using active and passive microwave remote sensing approaches to detect the ice shell internal thermophysical properties. The results are expected to provide technical basis and serve as important reference for the icy moon exploration missions, supporting the thermal evolution analysis and providing new critical evidences for the existence of subsurface ocean and habitability of icy moon.