We report a new paper in Geophysical Research Letters entitled “94 GHz radar backscatter characteristics of alpine glacier ice”. In this paper, we characterise for the first time the radar backscatter characteristics of glacier ice at 94 GHz. This radar frequency has seldom been used for glacier mapping and monitoring but has the potential to improve measurements by acquiring high resolution measurements of terrain in most weather conditions.
We find that radar backscatter from alpine glacier terrain lies in the range -17.0 dB to -3.4 dB with a mean of -9.9 dB. The radar backscatter data follows a log-normal distribution which suggests that surface roughness is the primary driver of radar backscatter. In situ measurements of ice crystal sizes indicate that they are of comparable magnitude to the radar wavelength used in this study (3.19 mm) and provides further evidence that surface roughness drives radar backscatter. Finally, we also quantified the 3D mapping accuracy of 94 GHz radar over glacier terrain and found the uncertainties to be smaller than other ground-based radars demonstrating it’s potential for glacier mapping.
Full paper citation:
Harcourt, W.D., Robertson, D.A., Macfarlane, D.G., Rea, B.R., Spagnolo, M. (2023). 94 GHz radar backscatter characteristics of glacier ice, Geophysical Research Letters, 50, 82023GL104721. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL104721.
Research Page: William D. Harcourt 