Observation of internal structures of snow covers with a ground-penetrating radar

Abstract

To complement a technique to detect internal structures of seasonal snow covers and glacier firn with ground-penetrating radar (GPR), we carried out calibration experiments and an observation of winter snow cover (5.7 m thick dry snow with numerous ice layers) with an 800 MHz GPR. In particular, we aimed to discriminate periodic noise, which is inherent in GPR, from radar echoes and to obtain a relationship between the observed reflection strength and the magnitude of density contrasts. Experiments were done in air to evaluate noise levels and receiver characteristics of this system. Based on these, we removed noise from radar echoes in the snow-cover observation. We recognized numerous marked echoes in a noise-free radargram. The depths of these echoes coincided roughly with those of large density contrasts observed in the snow pit. Thus, we argue that the echoes correspond to thin ice layers. Furthermore, the minimum density contrasts detected by this GPR are found to vary from about 100 to 250 kg m-3 at 1-6 m depth in the seasonal snow cover. © International Glaciological Society.