The CReSIS Radar Suite for Measurements of the Ice Sheets and Sea Ice during Operation Ice Bridge
Abstract
The University of Kansas, Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) has developed a suite of radar instrumentation operating at frequencies ranging from 180 MHz to 18 GHz to monitor the major Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets at varying resolution from the surface to the bed as well as the surface topography and snow cover characteristics of sea ice. The radar suite includes a VHF multi-channel coherent radar depth sounder/imager (MCoRDS/I) to measure ice sheet thickness, internal layering, and image ice-bed interface with fine resolution; a UHF accumulation radar to measure shallow (up to 500 m) ice sheet thickness, internal layering, and accumulation rates at decimeter resolutions; an ultra-wideband “snow” radar to measure thickness of snow over sea ice and accumulation rates at centimeter scale resolution; and a wideband Ku-band altimeter to measure surface topography and accumulation layer for comparison with CryoSat-2. To support recent NASA Operation Ice Bridge activities, CReSIS radars were adapted for installation and operation on the NASA DC-8 for deployments primarily to Antarctica for measurements over glacial ice in West Antarctica and sea ice, and on the NASA P-3 for deployments to Greenland and Arctic sea ice. The major integration activities included the development of antenna subsystems specifically tailored for the DC-8 and P-3 aircraft. This included a low-profile radar depth sounder/imager antenna assembly for the DC-8 with a minimal impact on the aircraft range, one of the largest VHF antenna arrays for the P-3, and a set of internal antennas structures and radomes for the P-3 bomb bay. The design and development of the antenna assemblies were focused on meeting a combination of instrument and mission requirements. We will present a description of each radar system including the antenna assemblies, instrument block diagrams, modes of operation, installation specifics for each OIB deployment, example results, and availability of data to external investigators.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010AGUFM.C44A..02L
- Keywords:
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- 0720 CRYOSPHERE / Glaciers;
- 0750 CRYOSPHERE / Sea ice;
- 0758 CRYOSPHERE / Remote sensing;
- 1621 GLOBAL CHANGE / Cryospheric change