Inversion for the density–depth profile of Dome A, East Antarctica, using frequency-modulated continuous wave radar

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Wangxiao Yang, Yinke Dou, Bo Zhao, Jingxue Guo, Xueyuan Tang, Guangyu Zuo, Yuchen Wang, Yan Chen, Yuzhong Zhang
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press 2021
• Subjects: Applied glaciology; glaciological instruments and methods; ground-penetrating radar; polar firn; radio-echo sounding; Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Meteorology. Climatology; QC851-999; Antarctic; The Antarctic; East Antarctica; Zhongshan; Zhongshan Station; Antarc*; Antarctica; ice core; Ice Sheet; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.70; https://doaj.org/article/b381dfa483bc4d11ae96d77109f7b5fe

The density–depth relationship of the Antarctic ice sheet is important for establishing a high-precision surface mass balance model and predicting future ice-sheet contributions to global sea levels. A new algorithm is used to reconstruct firn density and densification rate by inverting monostatic radio wave echoes from ground-operated frequency-modulated continuous wave radar data collected near four ice cores along the transect from Zhongshan Station to Dome A. The inverted density profile is consistent with the core data within 5.54% root mean square error. Due to snow redistribution, the densification rate within 88 km of ice core DT401 is correlated with the accumulation rate and varies greatly over horizontal distances of <5 km. That is, the depth at which a critical density of 830 kg m−3 is reached decreases and densification rate increases in high-accumulation regions but decreases in low-accumulation regions. This inversion technique can be used to analyse more Antarctic radar data and obtain the density distribution trend, which can improve the accuracy of mass-balance estimations.