CReSIS airborne radars and platforms for ice and snow sounding

Arnold, Emily; Leuschen, Carl; Rodriguez‐Morales, Fernando; Li, Jilu; Paden, John; Hale, Richard; Keshmiri, Shawn

doi:10.1017/aog.2019.37

Cited by 41 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Rodriguez-Morales and others, 2013; Kjær and others, 2018). Ultimately, new platforms, such as rovers, drones and satellites stand to transform the way radar-sounding observations are made (Jezek and others, 2006; Koh and others, 2010; Arcone and others, 2016; Freeman and others, 2017; Dall and others, 2018; Carrer and others, 2018; Gogineni and others, 2018; Culberg and Schroeder, 2019; Arnold and others, 2020).…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Five decades of radioglaciology

et al. 2020

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Radar sounding is a powerful geophysical approach for characterizing the subsurface conditions of terrestrial and planetary ice masses at local to global scales. As a result, a wide array of orbital, airborne, ground-based, and in situ instruments, platforms and data analysis approaches for radioglaciology have been developed, applied or proposed. Terrestrially, airborne radar sounding has been used in glaciology to observe ice thickness, basal topography and englacial layers for five decades. More recently, radar sounding data have also been exploited to estimate the extent and configuration of subglacial water, the geometry of subglacial bedforms and the subglacial and englacial thermal states of ice sheets. Planetary radar sounders have observed, or are planned to observe, the subsurfaces and near-surfaces of Mars, Earth's Moon, comets and the icy moons of Jupiter. In this review paper, and the thematic issue of the Annals of Glaciology on ‘Five decades of radioglaciology’ to which it belongs, we present recent advances in the fields of radar systems, missions, signal processing, data analysis, modeling and scientific interpretation. Our review presents progress in these fields since the last radio-glaciological Annals of Glaciology issue of 2014, the context of their history and future prospects.

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confidence: 99%

Five decades of radioglaciology

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“…2), although a ≤ 30 MHz system is a more conservative suggestion. For thicker glaciers in Alaska, Iceland and the southern Andes, a lower-frequency (≤ 30 MHz) radar sounder remains necessary for many glaciers, and ≤ 10 MHz may be more suitable, as observed in practice (e.g., Conway et al, 2009;Björnsson and Pálsson, 2020).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their analysis favored center frequencies ≤∼ 10 MHz to increase the signal-to-clutter ratio between the ice-bed reflection (signal) and any cavity-induced volume scattering (clutter). Their lucid description of this challenge motivated the development of numerous low-frequency radar sounders (e.g., Watts and Wright, 1981;Fountain and Jacobel, 1997;Conway et al, 2009;Mingo and Flowers, 2010;Rignot et al, 2013;Arnold et al, 2018;Björnsson and Pálsson, 2020). However, subsequent advances in available hardware, system design and processing demonstrated that higher-frequency (> 10 MHz) radar sounders can also sound hundreds of meters of temperate ice (e.g., Rutishauser et al, 2016;Langhammer et al, 2019;Pritchard et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brief communication: An empirical relation between center frequency and measured thickness for radar sounding of temperate glaciers

et al. 2021

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Abstract. Radar sounding of the thickness of temperate glaciers is challenged by substantial volume scattering, surface scattering and high attenuation rates. Lower-frequency radar sounders are often deployed to mitigate these effects, but the lack of a global synthesis of their success limits progress in system and survey design. Here we extend a recent global compilation of glacier thickness measurements (GlaThiDa) with the center frequency for radar-sounding surveys. From a maximum reported thickness of ∼ 1500 m near 1 MHz, the maximum thickness sounded decreases by ∼ 500 m per frequency decade. Between 25–100 MHz, newer airborne radar sounders generally outperform older, ground-based ones. Based on globally modeled glacier thicknesses, we conclude that a multi-element, ≤30 MHz airborne radar sounder could survey most temperate glaciers more efficiently.

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“…Our synthesis suggests a higher upper limit (~30 MHz) on potentially suitable radar sounders for sounding temperate ice up to ~700 m thick. Recent advances in hardware and system design could further increase that range, e.g., solid-state transmit/receive switches, higher peak-transmit powers and platformaware numerical optimization of antenna configurations (Arnold et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brief communication: An empirical relation between center frequency and measured thickness for radar sounding of temperate glaciers

MacGregor¹,

Studinger²,

Arnold³

et al. 2021

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Abstract. Radar sounding of the thickness of temperate glaciers is more challenging than for polar ice sheets, due to the former's greater volume scattering (englacial water), surface scattering (crevasses and debris) and dielectric attenuation rate (warmer ice). Lower frequency (~1–100 MHz) radar sounders are commonly deployed to mitigate these effects, but the lack of a synthesis of existing radar-sounding surveys of temperate glaciers limits progress in system and survey design. Here we use a recent global synthesis of measured glacier thickness to evaluate the relation between the radar center frequency and maximum thickness. From a maximum reported thickness of ~1500 m near 1 MHz, the maximum thickness sounded decreases with increasing frequency by ~500 m per frequency decade. Newer airborne radar sounders generally outperform older, ground-based ones at comparable frequencies, so radar-sounder success is also influenced by system design and processing methods. Based on globally modeled glacier thicknesses, we conclude that a multi-element airborne radar sounder with a center frequency of ≤ 30 MHz could survey most temperate glaciers more efficiently than presently available systems.

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CReSIS airborne radars and platforms for ice and snow sounding

Cited by 41 publications

References 29 publications

Five decades of radioglaciology

Five decades of radioglaciology

Brief communication: An empirical relation between center frequency and measured thickness for radar sounding of temperate glaciers

Brief communication: An empirical relation between center frequency and measured thickness for radar sounding of temperate glaciers

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