Remote Detection Of A Freshwater Pool Off The Sagavanirktok River Delta, Alaska

• Main Authors: A. Kovacs, R. M. Morey
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Howe Island; Arctic; north slope; Sea ice; Alaska
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.505.5971; http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic32-2-161.pdf

A recent paper by Kovacs (1978) discussed the findings of a study in which an impulse radar sounding system was used to detect water under ice-covered lakes on the North Slope of Alaska. The study revealed that the radar system could be used to determine, from the ice surface or from a helicopter, lake ice thickness, water depth under the ice, and where the ice was in contact with the lake bottom. In early May 1978, a pool of fresh water was discovered during impulse radar sounding measurements of sea ice thickness near Howe Island on the coast of the Sagavanirktok River Delta, Alaska. Its potential as a source of potable water was investigated and is reported here. The impulse radar profiling system used consisted of an electronics console, a graphic recorder and an antenna pulled along the ice surface. The system and its operational characteristics have been described by Morey, (1974), Campbell and Orange, (1974) and Kovacs and Morey, (1978). The freshwater pool was discovered during an ice thickness profile run