Radio-echo Sounding of Temperate Glaciers: Ice Properties and Sounder Design Criteria

Radio Echo Sounding of the Greenland Inland Ice

Radio echo sounding has been used for a number of years in the exploration of polar ice such as the inland ice in Greenland and Antarc­ tica. By means of this technique a number of important glaciological and geophysical parameters may be deter­ mined. Examples are ice thickness, bedrock topography and structure, stratification patterns which are used for climate and flow patterns studies, and ...

Mapping subglacial surfaces of temperate valley glaciers by two-pass migration of a radio-echo sounding survey

Instruments and Methods Improved method to determine radio-echo sounding reflector depths from ice-core profiles of permittivity and conductivity

We present a technique that modifies and extends down-hole target methods to provide absolute measures of uncertainty in radar-reflector depth of origin. We use ice-core profiles to model wave propagation and reflection, and then cross-correlate the model results with radio-echo sounding (RES) data to identify the depth of reflector events. Stacked traces recorded with RES near the EPICA drill ...

The Motion of Ice Sheets and Glaciers

The distribution of velocity along a vertical line in Greenland is calculated. Almost all the relative shear motion is concentrated at and very near to the bottom, and this result is thought to apply generally in Greenland and Antarctica. It is due to the relatively high temperature of the lowest layers and the strong dependence of creep rate on temperature. The outward velocity being thus almo...

SAR Processing of Radar Echo Sounder Data

In 1991, NASA initiated a research program for testing airborne laser and radar altimeters for measuring surface elevation of the Greenland ice sheet in conjunction with a coordinated set of surface measurements for validating and interpreting satellite data sets. In 1993, the airborne program was expanded to include the University of Kansas airborne radio echo sounder for acquiring ice thickne...