Proposal for Measuring the Movement of a Large Ice Sheet by Observing Radio Echoes

Abstract

AbstractThe proposed method is to use a radio-echo sounder located on the surface of the ice sheet and to record the shape of the pulses returned from the rock bed. If the instrument is moved horizontally, the shape of the returning pulse will change, large differences occurring in horizontal distances of the order of the wavelength of the radiation, say 5 m. The spatial pattern of this variation, being largely determined by the details of the reflecting rock bed, is expected to remain fixed in position while the ice moves. It thus forms a fixed reference against which ice movement can be measured at places far removed from fixed landmarks. Analogue experiments in the laboratory, using ultrasonic waves in air in place of radio waves in ice, suggest that it should be easy to detect a movement ofλ/10, 0.5 m, and, with further refinement, much smaller movements. A field test is in preparation.