A low-cost glacier-mapping system

Abstract

Abstract An old portable 60 MHz radar has been upgraded with a new digital data-processing and -acquisition system and a new antenna construction enabling a fast and low-cost installation on a Twin Otter aircraft. Augmented by a laser altimeter and kinematic global positioning system (GPS), the system has the capability of acquiring accurate data on location and ice-surface elevation, and adequate-quality data on ice thickness. The system has been applied successfully in mapping the Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden glacier, northeast Greenland, in spite of the difficult conditions with melting water on the glacier surface. The measurements from the floating part of the glacier have been evaluated by comparison of radar data with laser-altimeter and in situ measurements.