Interpretation of Radio-Echo Returns from Internal Water Bodies in Variegated Glacier, Alaska, U.S.A.

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Jacobel, Robert W., Anderson, Stefan K.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1987
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; glacier; Journal of Glaciology; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s002214300000890x; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S002214300000890X

Abstract Radio echo-sounding studies were used to detect water-filled cavities on Variegated Glacier, Alaska, during its surge in 1983. Cavity locations were determined by spatial surveys, and changes in cavity size and water content over a 5 week period were inferred from phase and amplitude changes in the echo wave form. Data were taken at both 4 and 8 MHz central frequencies of the impulse transmitter. These bi-frequency results, together with spectral analysis of the digitized wave forms, were used to provide additional information about the cavity dimensions. Cavity response is interpreted in terms of a simplified model of a thin layer of strong dielectric contrast. Computer simulations of radar pulses encountering such layers reproduce the main features of the data.