Acoustic emissions as a measure of damage in ice

When ice is damaged it emits sounds. These sounds can be recorded, and thus may allow us to make direct observations of the way ice breaks. In particular, it would be useful to understand how networks of cracks form in ice after load is applied but before failure occurs. In this work we use new large data sets of acoustic emissions (AE) from saline ice, recorded in the field and in the ice tank, to show how AE records are related to loading patterns. Observations from cyclic loading allow observation of healing processes as well as damage. We show, quantitatively and qualitatively, how AE measurements can help improve understanding of sea ice mechanics.