High Resolution FMCW Radar System for Investigating the Polar Ice Caps

This paper presents a newly developed high resolution FMCW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) radar system for sounding the sub ice topography of the polar ice caps. The system, working in the frequency range from 200 - 400 MHz, was developed to measure thickness and internal layers in cold ice with a resolution better than 1 meter. This also gives the possibility to measure snow accumulation rates, an important input for an improved knowledge of the mass balance of polar ice sheets. First measurements for the test, calibration and optimization of the new ice sounder were taken near Ellsworth Mountains, at Patriot Hills, West Antarctica, at 80deg 18' S, 81deg22' W. They were carried out in the frame of a joint Chilean-German research project of the Universidad de Magallanes (UMAG), Punta Arenas, Chile and Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Hamburg, Germany. The complete radar system was installed on a ski mounted support frame, pulled by hand across the ice surface. The measurement results presented in this paper show the capabilities of the developed system to measure ice thickness up to 1000 m and internal layers of the ice body as well.