EPSRC-funded radars track changes on ice shelf
A series of radars deployed on Antarctica are expected to give researchers their first ever day-by-day measurements of the health of one of the continent’s ice shelves.
The EPSRC-funded radars have been placed on the ice shelf surrounding Pine Island by University College London (UCL) and British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists to record changes of the Antarctic ice.
The ice shelves around Antarctica can be up to 2km thick, but preliminary trials show the new radar system can detect changes of as little as a millimetre, which EPSRC says is around the amount the Pine Island Glacier melts in 30 minutes.
In a statement, Dr Keith Nicholls of the British Antarctic Survey said: ‘Although we’ve previously taken snapshots of the ice with radar, this is the first time year-round monitoring has been possible.
‘Where changing ocean currents interact with the underside of the ice shelf, the rate of melting can change season by season, month by month, even over days or hours. The advantages of this new system cannot be overstated.’
The purpose-built radars were developed in the labs of Paul Brennan, Professor of Microwave Electronics at University College London.
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