Imaging of firn and bubbly ice in coaxial reflected light: a new technique for the characterization of these porous media

Abstract

AbstractA new technique for characterizing the structure of firn and bubbly ice is presented. This technique, based on observation of etched (sublimation) surfaces in coaxial reflected light, enables une to see simultaneously the pore network of the firn or bubbles in the ice and the crystal boundaries. At the same time, the main stages of image processing used to transform the initial photographs into clean binary images are described.