High-resolution monitoring of internal layers over the Greenland ice sheet

The global sea level rise has been attributed to the melting of mountain glaciers among other causes. The mass balance of the glacial ice plays an important role in the rise of the Earth´s sea level. A key variable in assessing the mass balance of an ice sheet is accumulation rate, which is currently determined from ice cores and pits. Accumulation data are sparse, and there are large uncertainties in existing accumulation rate maps derived from sparely distributed ice cores and pits. The accumulation rate can be estimated more accurately if we are able to obtain a continuous profile of the dated layers in the ice sheet. The authors describe the development of a high-resolution radar system to map the layers in the ice sheet and present the results obtained at the North GReenland Ice core Project (NGRIP) ice camp with their prototype system