Development of a drone-based ground-penetrating radar system for efficient and safe 3D and 4D surveying of alpine glaciers

Author:

Ruols BastienORCID,Baron LudovicORCID,Irving JamesORCID

Abstract

Abstract Recent research has highlighted the potential for high-resolution, high-density, 3D and 4D ground-penetrating radar (GPR) acquisitions on alpine glaciers. When carried out on foot, such surveys are laborious and time consuming, which limits their application to small domains of limited glaciological interest. Further, crevasses and other hazards make the data acquisition risky. To address these issues, we have developed a drone-based GPR system. The system has a payload weight of 2.2 kg and a data output rate of 14 traces per second. An 80-MHz antenna and a recording time of 2800 ns mean that depths of over 100 m can be reached in temperate ice. Differential GPS positioning assures accurate flight paths. At a speed of 4 m s−1 and height of 5 m above the glacier surface, our system can acquire over 4 line-km of GPR data in 20 min on a single set of drone batteries. After presenting the technical specifications of the system and tests required to optimize its performance, we showcase a recently acquired 3D dataset from the Otemma glacier in Switzerland, where 462 parallel GPR profiles were surveyed at a 1-m line spacing, totaling over 112 line-km of data, in only 4 days.

Funder

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung

Publisher

Cambridge University Press (CUP)

Subject

Earth-Surface Processes

Reference90 articles.

1. SPH Engineering. Using a drone based ground-penetrating radar for avalanche victim search: a study case from northern Spain. Accessed in August 2023. https://www.sphengineering.com/news/using-a-drone-based-ground-penetrating-radar-for-avalanche-victim-search-a-case-study-from-northern-spain.

2. A new drone-borne GPR for soil moisture mapping

3. Evaluation of a Semi-Airborne Electromagnetic Survey Based on a Multicopter Aircraft System

4. A High-Speed, Light-Weight Scalar Magnetometer Bird for km Scale UAV Magnetic Surveying: On Sensor Choice, Bird Design, and Quality of Output Data

5. Radio Echo-Sounding Studies of Englacial Water Movement in Variegated Glacier, Alaska

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3