Examining the physical processes of corn oil (medium crude oil surrogate) in sea ice and its resultant effect on complex permittivity and normalized radar cross-section

Due to the effects of heightened warming in the Arctic, there has been an urgency to develop methods for detecting oil in (or under) sea ice, owing to increasing potential for oil exploration and ship traffic in the more accessible Arctic regions. To test the potential for radar utilizing the normalized radar cross section (NRCS) of the sea ice, an oil-in-ice mesocosm experiment was performed. Throughout the experiment, corn oil was used as a surrogate for medium crude oil, to assess oil movement tendencies in sea ice, and the resultant impact on the complex permittivity through measurement and modelling techniques. We performed a modelling study to establish the effects of corn oil on the NRCS of sea ice. The oil presence in the sea ice increased the temperature and reduced the salinity of the sea ice, thereby lowering its complex permittivity and modeled NRCS when compared to control sea ice. [Display omitted] •Oil migrated towards sea ice surface.•Oil presence increased the sea ice temperature.•Oil presence perturbed the salinity of the ice.•The complex permittivity profiles of the ice reflected the changes in bulk salinity.•Detectable change in the normalized radar cross-section of the ice at certain angles