Inferring Ice Temperature from Radar
Conductivity of ice is primarily controlled by two properties: its temperature and chemistry. When ice is warm or impurity rich, it has an elevated conductivity, resulting in additional power losses as energy carried by the electromagnetic wave is dissipated as current. For reflection radioglaciology surveys, it is difficult to disentangle power losses during propagation from power losses during reflection, limiting our ability to infer ice and reflector property information from radar data alone. In my research, I am looking into other data sources that can aid in inferring ice conductivity, and therefore temperature. Current work attempts to use surface velocity information (derived from InSAR observations of the ice sheet surface) to constrain thermal gradients in the ice sheets (based on work done during shear and longitudinal strain), to ultimately inform an inverse problem for spatially variable attenuation in radar data.
Diagnosing Subsurface Dynamics from Surface Height Change
Transient subsurface processes are expressed at the surface in the form of velocity and elevation changes. Much of west Antarctica is thinning in response to warm water intrusions in the Amundsen Sea, while parts of East Antarctica and the Siple Coast are thickening in response to changes in ice dynamics and surface mass balance. Using ICESat-2 data, I link subsurface processes with observed surface change to better understand the ice-flow regimes across Antarctica and Greenland.
Diagnosing Stable Bed Properties using Internal Ice Structures
Spatially variable flow rates leave a record in the internal structure of the ice, detectable using radar. As the ice flows over either resistive or lubricated beds, it compresses or stretches, leaving characteristic synformal and antiformal structures in the internal layers of the ice sheet. While challenging to interpret, these structures are some of the few data that directly reflect the frictional resistance of the system, and have the potential to inform our understanding of the basal boundary conditions. One goal of my research is to be able to use measurable features in these structures to invert for the frictional characteristics at the bed. Working toward this objective involves observational studies (collecting and examining radar data over areas of known or expected variability in the bed properties) as well as modeling exercises (cataloging the suite of possible and expected internal structures). The Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica is a perfect area to test this method, as the frictional properties of the system are thought to be geologically controlled, and therefore spatially and temporally stable over the glacial cycle.
Evaluating Diurnal Cycling of Glacier Speeds
Improved instrumentation makes it possible to map glacier speeds at high frequencies over large areas. Using a GAMMA Ground-based, portable, radar interferometer (GPRi), we take 2 minute repeat measures of the glacier speed in an effort to evaluate diurnal variations in ice flow during the melt season. These data are calibrated against GPS observations on ice, and provide some of the first 2D maps of glacier flow on a minute-by-minute basis in the North Cascades.