Scientists at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG) have developed a radar technique that lets them image hidden features within the upper few feet of ice sheets.
Scientists at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG) have developed a radar technique that lets them image hidden features within the upper few feet of ice sheets. The researchers behind the technique said that it can be used to investigate melting glaciers on Earth as well as detect potentially habitable environments on Jupiter’s moon Europa.
The near-surface layers of ice sheets are difficult to study with traditional airborne or satellite ice-penetrating radar because much of what’s scientifically important happens too close to the surface to be accurately imaged. That has left scientists relying on ground instruments that give only limited coverage, or extracting ice cores — a difficult and time-consuming operation currently impossible to do on other planets.
The new radar technique combines two different radar bandwidths and looks for discrepancies as a way of boosting the resolution. Because the instruments are carried on airplanes or satellites, scientists can quickly survey vast regions of ice.
Read more at: University of Texas at Austin
A helicopter equipped with an ice-penetrating radar refuels on the ice at the Arctic’s Devon Island. Researchers at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics have developed a resolution-boosting technique for the instrument. (Photo Credit: Corey Skender)
