Expand this Topic clickable element to expand a topic
Skip to content
Optica Publishing Group

Refractive-index measurements in freezing sea-ice and sodium chloride brines

Not Accessible

Your library or personal account may give you access

Abstract

Sea ice contains numerous pockets of brine and precipitated salts whose size and number distributions change dramatically with temperature. Theoretical treatment of scattering produced by these inclusions requires information on refractive-index differences among the brine, salts, and surrounding ice. Lacking specific data on refractive-index variations in the brine, we carried out laboratory measurements in freezing-equilibrium solutions between −2 and −32 °C. Index values at 589 nm increased from 1.341 to 1.397 over this temperature range, corresponding to salinities of 35 and 240 parts per thousand (ppt). Spectral data were also taken at 50-nm intervals between 400 and 700 nm in nonequilibrium solutions with salinities ranging up to 300 ppt. Spectral gradients increased slightly with salinity but showed no measurable dependence on temperature between +12 and −16 °C. The Lorentz–Lorenz equation, combined with data on density, molar refractivities, and brine composition, yielded temperature-dependent index predictions in excellent agreement with the experimental data. Similar index and density measurements in freezing sodium chloride brines yielded values nearly identical to those in the sea-ice brines. The absence of mirabilite crystals in sodium chloride ice, however, will cause it to have higher transmissivity and lower reflectivity than sea ice above −22 °C.

© 1995 Optical Society of America

Full Article  |  PDF Article
More Like This
Empirical formula for the refractive index of freezing brine

Jeppe Revall Frisvad
Appl. Opt. 48(11) 2149-2153 (2009)

Laboratory studies of angle- and polarization-dependent light scattering in sea ice

D. Miller, M. S. Quinby-Hunt, and A. J. Hunt
Appl. Opt. 36(6) 1278-1288 (1997)

Modeling sea ice albedo and transmittance measurements with a fully-coupled radiative transfer model

Zhonghai Jin, Matteo Ottaviani, and Monika Sikand
Opt. Express 31(13) 21128-21152 (2023)

Cited By

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Figures (10)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Figure files are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Tables (3)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Article tables are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Equations (10)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Equations are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Select as filters


Select Topics Cancel
© Copyright 2024 | Optica Publishing Group. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies.