The Scientific Operations of Snow Eagle 601 in Antarctica in the Past Five Austral Seasons

• Published in: Remote Sensing
• Main Authors: Xiangbin Cui, Jamin S. Greenbaum, Shinan Lang, Xi Zhao, Lin Li, Jingxue Guo, Bo Sun
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020
• Subjects: Snow Eagle 601; aerogeophysics; Princess Elizabeth Land; ice-penetrating radar; Antarctic ice sheet; Science; Q; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Austral; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12182994; https://doaj.org/article/105827284c4c41d681033cf0a93ecea1

The Antarctic ice sheet and the continent both play critical roles in global sea level rise and climate change but they remain poorly understood because data collection is greatly limited by the remote location and hostile conditions there. Airborne platforms have been extensively used in Antarctica due to their capabilities and flexibility and have contributed a great deal of knowledge to both the ice sheet and the continent. The Snow Eagle 601 fixed-wing airborne platform has been deployed by China for Antarctic expeditions since 2015. Scientific instruments on the airplane include an ice-penetrating radar, a gravimeter, a magnetometer, a laser altimeter, a camera and a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). In the past five austral seasons, the airborne platform has been used to survey Princess Elizabeth Land, the largest data gap in Antarctica, as well as other critical areas. This paper reviews the scientific operations of Snow Eagle 601 including airborne and ground-based scientific instrumentation, aviation logistics, field data acquisition and processing and data quality control. We summarize the progress of airborne surveys to date, focusing on scientific motivations, data coverage and national and international collaborations. Finally, we discuss potential regions for applications of the airborne platform in Antarctica and developments of the airborne scientific system for future work.