Internal layering detected by a microwave ice-radar in the Arctic ice cap (scientific paper)

• Main Authors: Seiho Uratsuka, Hideo Maeno, Takeshi Suitz, David A. Fisher, Kumiko Goto-Azuma, Shinji Mae
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Communications Research Laboratory/Communications Research Laboratory/Communications Research Laboratory/Geological Survey of Canada/Nagaoka Institute of Snow and Ice Studies/Faculty of Engineering Hokkaido University 1996
• Subjects: Arctic; Agassiz Ice Cap; Ice cap; ice core; Memoirs of National Institute of Polar Research; Polar Research
• Online Access: https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=2301; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00002301/; https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=2301&item_no=1&attribute_id=18&file_no=1

Radar observations were carried out on the Agassiz ice cap in Canadian arctic territory using a newly developed high resolution ice-radar. The radar employed a microwave frequency (L-band) in order to realize resolution of less than 1m. Actual range resolution of the radar is about 63cm in ice. The radar can observe the bedrock topography and internal echoes with high resolution. Signals from bedrock up to 500 meters in depth were detected. The attenuation coefficient in the L-band frequency was calculated to be 0.05dB/m. Internal ice layers were observed from about 50m to 200m in depth. Internal layers detected by the radar were compared to the electrical conductivity of an ice core measured by ECM at the summit of the ice cap with almost the same resolution. Each peak of the radar echo corresponded to an ECM peak, but the relationship between echo intensity and ECM intensity is not clear.