Bed topography and lubrication inferred from surface measurements on fast-flowing ice streams

High-resolution bed topography mapping of Russell Glacier, Greenland, inferred from Operation IceBridge data

Detailed maps of bed elevation and ice thickness are essential for understanding and projecting the evolution of the ice sheets. Such maps are traditionally obtained using airborne radarsounding profiler data interpolated onto regular grids using geostatistical tools such as kriging. Here we compare three mapping techniques applied to a dense radar survey of Russell Glacier, West Greenland, by ...

Ice-Bed Coupling Beneath and Beyond Ice Streams: Byrd Glacier, Antarctica

Flowing resistance and dilatancy of dense suspensions: lubrication and repulsion

The Glacier and Ice Surface Topography Interferometer: First Results from Greenland

As part of the NASA International Polar Year activities, a Ka-band cross-track interferometric synthetic aperture radar recently demonstrated high precision elevation swath mapping capability. This proof-ofconcept instrument was achieved by interfacing antennae and Ka-band electronics with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s L-band UAVSAR. Deployed on the NASA Gulfstream III, initial successful eng...

Future Antarctic bed topography and its implications for ice sheet dynamics

The Antarctic bedrock is evolving as the solid Earth responds to the past and ongoing evolution of the ice sheet. A recently improved ice loading history suggests that the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) has generally been losing its mass since the Last Glacial Maximum. In a sustained warming climate, the AIS is predicted to retreat at a greater pace, primarily via melting beneath the ice shelves. We...