physics

Radioglaciology

Radioglaciology is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Radioglaciology rather than just read about it. In short: Radioglaciology is the study of glaciers, ice sheets, ice caps and icy moons using ice penetrating radar. It employs a geophysical method similar to ground-penetrating radar and typically operates at frequencies in the MF, HF, VHF and UHF portions of the radio spectrum.

Key takeaways

Radioglaciology belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Radioglaciology to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Radioglaciology from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Radioglaciology is the study of glaciers, ice sheets, ice caps and icy moons using ice penetrating radar. It employs a geophysical method similar to ground-penetrating radar and typically operates at frequencies in the MF, HF, VHF and UHF portions of the radio spectrum. This technique is also commonly referred to as "Ice Penetrating Radar (IPR)" or "Radio Echo Sounding (RES)". Glaciers are particularly well suited to investigation by radar because the conductivity, imaginary part of the permittivity, and the dielectric absorption of ice are small at radio frequencies resulting in low loss tangent, skin depth, and attenuation values. This allows echoes from the base of the ice sheet to be detected through ice thicknesses greater than 4 km. The subsurface observation of ice masses using radio waves has been an integral and evolving geophysical technique in glaciology for over half a century. Its most widespread uses have been the measurement of ice thickness, subglacial topography, and ice sheet stratigraphy. It has also been used to observe the subglacial and conditions of ice sheets and glaciers, including hydrology, thermal state, accumulation, flow history, ice fabric, and bed geology. In planetary science, ice penetrating radar has also been used to explore the subsurface of the Polar Ice Caps on Mars and comets. Missions are planned to explore the icy moons of Jupiter.

Measurements and applications Radioglaciology uses nadir facing radars to probe the subsurface of glaciers, ice sheets, ice caps, and icy moons and to detect reflected and scattered energy from within and beneath the ice. This geometry tends to emphasize coherent and specular reflected energy resulting in distinct forms of the radar equation. Collected radar data typically undergoes signal processing ranging from stacking (or pre-summing) to migration to Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) focusing in 1, 2, or 3 dimensions. This data is collected using ice penetrating radar systems which range from commercial (or bespoke) ground penetrating radar (GPR) systems to coherent, chirped airborne sounders to swath-imaging, multi-frequency, or polarimetric implementations of such systems. Additionally, stationary, phase-sensitive, and Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radars have been used to observe snow, ice shelf melt rates, englacial hydrology, ice sheet structure, and vertical ice flow. Interferometric analysis of airborne systems have also been demonstrated to measure vertical ice flow. Additionally, radioglaciological instruments have been developed to operate on autonomous platforms, on in-situ probes, in low-cost deployments, using Software Defined Radios, and exploiting ambient radio signals for passive sounding. The most common scientific application for radioglaciological observations is measuring ice thickness and bed topography. This includes interpolated "bed maps", widely used in ice sheet modeling and sea level rise projections, studies exploring specific ice-sheet regions, and observations of glacier beds. The strength and character of radar echoes from the bed of the ice sheet are also used to investigate the reflectivity of the bed, the attenuation of radar in the ice, and the morphology of the bed. In addition bed echoes, radar returns from englacial layers are used in studies of the radio stratigraphy of ice sheets including investigations of ice accumulation, flow, and fabric as well as absence or disturbances of that stratigraphy. Radioglaciology data has also been used extensively to study subglacial lakes and glacial hydrology including englacial water, firn aquifers, and their temporal evolution. Ice penetrating radar data has also been used to investigate the subsurface of ice shelves including their grounding zones, melt rates, brine distribution, and basal channels.

Planetary exploration There are currently two ice-penetrating radars orbiting Mars: MARSIS and SHARAD. An ice penetrating radar was also part of the ROSETTA mission to comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Ice penetrating radars are also included in the payloads of two planned missions to the icy moons of Jupiter: JUICE and Europa Clipper.

IGS symposia The International Glaciological Society (IGS) holds a periodic series of symposia focused on radioglaciology. In 2008, the "Symposium on Radioglaciology and its Applications" was hosted at the Technical University of Madrid. In 2013, the "Symposium on Radioglaciology" was hosted at the University of Kansas. In 2019, the "Symposium of Five Decades of Radioglaciology" was hosted at Stanford University.

Further reading The following books and papers cover important topics in radioglaciology

Allen C (2008) of-ice-2/ A brief history of radio-echo sounding of ice. Earthzine. Bingham RG and Siegert MJ (2007) Radio-echo sounding over polar ice masses. Journal of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics 12(1), 47–62. Bogorodsky, VV, Bentley CR, and Gudmandsen PE (1985) Radioglaciology. D. Reidel Publishing Dowdeswell JA and Evans S (2004) Investigations of the form and flow of ice sheets and glaciers using radio-echo sounding. Reports on Progress in Physics 67(10), 1821–1861. Haynes M (2020) Surface and subsurface radar equations for radar sounders. Annals of Glaciology 61(81), 135–142. Hubbard B and Glasser NF (2005). Field Techniques in Glaciology and Glacial Geomorphology. John Wiley & Sons. Navarro F and Eisen O (2009). 11. Ground-penetrating radar in glaciological in Remote Sensing of Glaciers, Pellikka P and Rees GW (editors). Pettinelli E and 6 others (2015) Dielectric properties of Jovian satellite ice analogs for subsurface radar exploration: a review. Reviews of Geophysics 53(3), 593–641. Schroeder DM, Bingham RG, Blankenship, DD, Christianson, K, Eisen, O, Flowers, GE, Karlsson, NB, Koutnik MR, Paden JD, Siegert, MJ (2020) Five decades of radioglaciology. Annals of Glaciology 61(81), 1-13. Turchetti S, Dean K, Naylor S and Siegert M (2008) Accidents and opportunities: a history of the radio echo-sounding of Antarctica, 1958–79. The British Journal for the History of Science 41(3), 417–444.

Research institutions Research and education in radioglaciology is undertaken at universities and research institutes around the world. These groups found in institutions and departments that span physical geography, geophysics, earth science, planetary science, electrical engineering, and related disciplines.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Radioglaciology

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Radioglaciology claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Radioglaciology before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Radioglaciology ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Radioglaciology

In research: Radioglaciology appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Radioglaciology in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Radioglaciology is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Geophysical imaging, Glaciology, Radar, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Radioglaciology outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Radioglaciology in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Radioglaciology means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Radioglaciology out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Radioglaciology in simple terms?

Why does Radioglaciology matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Radioglaciology?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Radioglaciology.