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AirIPR system: Airborne Ice-Penetrating Radar


Background

PicturePhoto Credit: Kim Flament
Helicopter-based radar surveys bridge the gap between two well-established radio-echo sounding methods: airplane-based and ground-based surveys.

Airplane-based surveys can cover extensive geographical areas but often lack tight maneuverability. This limitation typically confines them to high-elevation flights and longitudinal glacier transects, resulting in data issues with valley walls and off-nadir bed reflections.

Ground-based surveys, conducted on foot, skis, or snow machines, are precise in specific terrains but are inherently slow and limited by surface conditions and terrain.

Given that all these techniques are complementary, helicopter-based surveys offer a valuable solution to the challenges mentioned above. They provide an efficient strategy for covering extensive terrain unsuitable for fixed-wing or ground surveys, provided that flying conditions are favorable (e.g., good visibility and minimal wind).

In this context, AirIPR offers a new, field-proven, operational airborne ice-penetrating radar system to deliver Surveys as a Service (SaaS). Data produced by the system can supports water resource management, glacier flow modeling, melt models, and natural hazard assessment. Additionally, the radar data provides insights into englacial properties and other characteristics detailed in radio-glaciology literature.

                                                                                                                        

System - Standard AirIPR

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Based on the roving & stationary IceRadar IPR (and sIPR) implementations [1], [2] , the standard AirIPR system comes with enhanced onboard software for airborne operation, integrating radar data with additional hardware data source(s) such as an AGL system that provides above-ground elevation measurements. The AGL, also plays a critical role in providing elevation information to the helicopter pilot, with a dedicated wireless display located inside the cockpit.
  • System Type: Impulse
  • Operation frequency: 10MHz-5MHz
  • Intrinsic vertical resolution: about 4m with 5 MHz system, 2m with 10 MHz system in the air  (quarter wavelength) (*)
  • Horizontal resolution, currently: 5 to 10m (flying speed dependent)
  • Receiver: 12-15 bits, ENOB ~ 8-bits
  • Open data format accessible to third-party tools (Py, Matllab)
  • Port to ImpDar
  • Transmitter: Narod Type, enhanced.
  • Currently attainable ice depth:  reliably up to ~ 600m in field operation in SW Yukon and NW BC, some datasets show deeper sounding but very close to detection limit at this point. Very likely deeper reach in cold ice environment.
  • Ideal survey areas (bed mapping): ablation zones (current version of the system)

(*): better resolution is attainable considering some upper frequency present in the radar pulse. Radar being interpretive, there will be data sections where the bed determination will not be well defined. In these case, vertical resolution will be less.

Operation

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  • Summer 2021: Kaskawulsh Glacier pilot
  • Spring 2022: Western Norway with Jostice project [3]
  • Summer 2022: Tweesdmuir Glacier terminus (data example below)
  • Winter 2023: Ferris, Grand Pacific & Melbern Glaciers (data example below)
  • Summer 2023: Kaskawulsh, Donjek, Kluane, Little Kluane Glaciers.
  • Fall 2023: Knipple Glacier, Boundary Ranges
  • Spring 2024: Tulsequah Glacier, BC
  • Spring 2024: multiple smaller glaciers in Donjek Range, YK

Data Example

Tweedsmuir Glacier, Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park, BC, Canada,  Traditional territory of The Champagne and Aishihik First Nations.

Processing to enhance bed at ~ 600m

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Grand Pacific Gl. Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park, BC, Canada. Traditional territory of The Champagne and Aishihik First Nations.

Processing to enhance bed at ~ 600m

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Kaskawulsh Gl., Kluane National Park, Yukon, Canada. Traditional terrirory of  Kluane First Nation.

Disappearing bed around 700-750m with experimental Tx
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SaaS : Surveys as a Service
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  • Surveys planning and logistics
  • Surveys execution with latest AirIPR system hardware & carrying platform, redundant hardware
  • Data pre-processing & post-processing
  • Data products as xy-z (depth) files with or without 3D bed rendering

References

  • [1]: Mingo, L., & Flowers, G. (2010). An integrated lightweight ice-penetrating radar system. Journal of Glaciology, 56(198), 709-714.
  • [2]: Bigelow, D. G., Flowers, G. E., Schoof, C. G., Mingo, L. D. B., Young, E. M., & Connal, B. G. (2020). The role of englacial hydrology in the filling and drainage of an ice-dammed lake, Kaskawulsh Glacier, Yukon, Canada. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 125, e2019JF005110.
  • [3] https://www.jostice.no/airborne-ice-radar-2022.html
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