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An Ultra-Wideband, Microwave Radar for Measuring Snow Thickness on Sea Ice and Mapping Near-Surface Internal Layers in Polar FirnSea ice is generally covered with snow, which can vary in thickness from a few centimeters to >1 m. Snow cover acts as a thermal insulator modulating the heat exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere, and it impacts sea-ice growth rates and overall thickness, a key indicator of climate change in polar regions. Snow depth is required to estimate sea-ice thickness using freeboard measurements made with satellite altimeters. The snow cover also acts as a mechanical load that depresses ice freeboard (snow and ice above sea level). Freeboard depression can result in flooding of the snow/ice interface and the formation of a thick slush layer, particularly in the Antarctic sea-ice cover. The Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) has developed an ultra-wideband, microwave radar capable of operation on long-endurance aircraft to characterize the thickness of snow over sea ice. The low-power, 100mW signal is swept from 2 to 8GHz allowing the air/snow and snow/ ice interfaces to be mapped with 5 c range resolution in snow; this is an improvement over the original system that worked from 2 to 6.5 GHz. From 2009 to 2012, CReSIS successfully operated the radar on the NASA P-3B and DC-8 aircraft to collect data on snow-covered sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic for NASA Operation IceBridge. The radar was found capable of snow depth retrievals ranging from 10cm to >1 m. We also demonstrated that this radar can be used to map near-surface internal layers in polar firn with fine range resolution. Here we describe the instrument design, characteristics and performance of the radar.
Document ID
20150001450
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Panzer, Ben
(Kansas Univ. Lawrence, KS, United States)
Gomez-Garcia, Daniel
(Kansas Univ. Lawrence, KS, United States)
Leuschen, Carl
(Kansas Univ. Lawrence, KS, United States)
Paden, John
(Kansas Univ. Lawrence, KS, United States)
Rodriguez-Morales, Fernando
(Kansas Univ. Lawrence, KS, United States)
Patel, Azsa
(Kansas Univ. Lawrence, KS, United States)
Markus, Thorsten
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Holt, Benjamin
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Gogineni, Prasad
(Kansas Univ. Lawrence, KS, United States)
Date Acquired
February 10, 2015
Publication Date
April 1, 2013
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Glaciology
Publisher: International Glaciological Society
Volume: 59
Issue: 214
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN19596
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF ANT-0424589G
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX09AR77G
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX10AT68G
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNG10HP19C
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
Snow Cover
Ultra-wideband
Methods
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