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Unusual radar echoes from the Greenland ice sheetIn June 1991, the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory airborne synthetic-aperture radar (AIRSAR) instrument collected the first calibrated data set of multifrequency, polarimetric, radar observations of the Greenland ice sheet. At the time of the AIRSAR overflight, ground teams recorded the snow and firn (old snow) stratigraphy, grain size, density, and temperature at ice camps in three of the four snow zones identified by glaciologists to characterize four different degrees of summer melting of the Greenland ice sheet. The four snow zones are: (1) the dry-snow zone, at high elevation, where melting rarely occurs; (2) the percolation zone, where summer melting generates water that percolates down through the cold, porous, dry snow and then refreezes in place to form massive layers and pipes of solid ice; (3) the soaked-snow zone where melting saturates the snow with liquid water and forms standing lakes; and (4) the ablation zone, at the lowest elevations, where melting is vigorous enough to remove the seasonal snow cover and ablate the glacier ice. There is interest in mapping the spatial extent and temporal variability of these different snow zones repeatedly by using remote sensing techniques. The objectives of the 1991 experiment were to study changes in radar scattering properties across the different melting zones of the Greenland ice sheet, and relate the radar properties of the ice sheet to the snow and firn physical properties via relevant scattering mechanisms. Here, we present an analysis of the unusual radar echoes measured from the percolation zone.
Document ID
19950017531
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Rignot, E. J. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Vanzyl, J. J. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Ostro, S. J. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Jezek, K. C. (Ohio State Univ. Columbus, OH., United States)
Date Acquired
September 6, 2013
Publication Date
October 25, 1993
Publication Information
Publication: Summaries of the 4th Annual JPL Airborne Geoscience Workshop. Volume 3: AIRSAR Workshop
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Accession Number
95N23951
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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IDRelationTitle19950017497Collected WorksSummaries of the 4th Annual JPL Airborne Geoscience Workshop. Volume 2: TIMS Workshop
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