Project Title

Mapping melting glacial surfaces with GNSS reflectometry

Summary

Event Number:
D-556-M
NSF / OPP Award 1940483

Program Director:
Dr. Michael Jackson

ASC POC/Implementer:
Ryan Steiner / Randolph Jones

Principal Investigator(s)

Dr. Seebany Datta-Barua
sdattaba@iit.edu
Illinois Institute of Technology

Location

Supporting Stations: McMurdo Station
Research Locations: Phoenix Airfield, Pegasus Airfield

Description

This project seeks to answer the question: Can global navigation satellite system (GNSS) reflectometry (GNSS-R) be used to reliably map snow-cover, ice, and surface water in a harsh glaciated environment at high spatio-temporal resolution? The working hypothesis is that GNSS-R can differentiate among cold snow, wet snow, bare ice, wet ice, and surface water in a way that will yield observations that can inform how glacial surfaces accumulate and ablate. The objective is to develop GNSS-R instrumentation and data-processing techniques as an effective high-spatiotemporal resolution method of characterizing the composition of snow, firn, and melting ice surfaces relevant to climate change on the Antarctic Ice Sheet and aircraft operations near McMurdo Station. The primary impact of the project will be the creation of a new sensing technology for glaciologists and logistical operators in Antarctica to use in future research and programmatic development. This work represents an inter-disciplinary collaboration between GNSS technology developers and cryospheric scientists, strengthening ties between the communities.

Field Season Overview

The field team will consist of two participants who will reside at McMurdo Station from mid-November to mid-December. The field work schedule will consist of: (1) install instrumentation; (2) harvest data, service instrumentation and conduct ground survey for 3-4 weeks; and (3) remove instrumentation. Field work will be conducted at two locations about 5km apart on the McMurdo Ice Shelf. The two sites have slightly different surface types and melting conditions. One is near Phoenix airfield, where both natural and engineered relatively dry ice and snow surfaces are available for testing. This location is collocated with the UNAVCO site “PHNX” near Phoenix airfield. The other site is near the old Pegasus airfield, where a combination of ice and surface meltwater is anticipated to be present heterogeneously across the surface. The project will deploy single 10-m towers at each site with a 50m diameter exclusion area around each tower. On these towers, GNSS-R antennas, UNAVCO positioning antenna, lidar, and cameras will be deployed. In the case of PHNX, the existing UNAVCO site will be used. The field team will need to visit the towers at roughly daily intervals to collect data, perform ground survey, and to adjust and modify instrumentation as necessary.

Deploying Team Members