Phase-Sensitive Radio-Echo Sounding at the Devon Island Ice Cap, Canada

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Walford, M.E.R., Holdorf, P.C., Oakberg, R.G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1977
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Canada; Devon Island; Ice cap; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000021316; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000021316

Abstract A radio-echo sounder has been built with which both the amplitude and phase of radio echoes can be measured. In experiments with this instrument at the Devon Island ice cap, in the Canadian Northern Territories, precise amplitude and phase measurements have been made upon radio echoes from the bed of the ice cap. If these measurements are repeated after a number of years, the results, considered in conjunction with snow accumulation and compaction data, will be interpretable as a long-term change in the thickness of the ice cap. Wave dislocations and bend points have been observed in radio echoes reflected from the bed, It is suggested that amplitude and phase measurements from a network of sites may be synthesized in order to explore the geometry of the reflecting surface on a fine scale.