A review of ice detection technologies

Since the dawn of aviation, aircraft icing has been a problem for air vehicles. Ice buildup on aircraft is a potentially serious safety issue as it can interfere with the aerodynamic characteristics. Icing alters performance and controllability of the vehicle, and hence it has been identified as one of the main causes for catastrophic accidents. Consequently, for safety reasons, the installation of devices to detect its presence has become necessary. However, ice formations can represent a threat also for other types of structures, such as high-power lines, bridge stay cables, antennas, or wind turbines, placed in environments that contribute to the ice formation. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review on the different ice detection technologies, focusing principally on aircraft icing, and classifying them according to the possible applications and their operating principle.