A PC-Based Portable Ice-Radar Receiver

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Hammond, W.R., Sprenke, K.F.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1990
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; alaska range; glacier; Journal of Glaciology; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000009515; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000009515

Abstract We have assembled a low-cost portable ice-radar receiver that is based on a personal computer (PC). The unit consists of a digital storage oscilloscope controlled by a lap-top PC. The total weight is 22 kg. The radar wave forms are digitized by the oscilloscope, displayed on the computer screen, and stored on a floppy diskette. All components are commercially available at a cost below $2000 U.S. The radar receiver has proved to be very versatile because the computing capabilities of an IBM-compatible PC are available in the field to control signal acquisition, to display radar wave forms in near-real time, and to perform sophisticated signal processing as measurements are taken. The PC-based ice-radar receiver was used for ice-thickness and bedrock power-reflection coefficient surveys of Mount Estelle glacier in the Alaska Range, Alaska, in 1988.