Optical Imaging Support for the National Ice Core Laboratory

Nevada System Of Higher Education, Desert Research Institute, Reno NV

Investigators

Abstract

McGwire/0637004 This award supports a project to continue with the development of novel methods for digital image analysis of glacial ice cores that are stored at the National Ice Core Laboratory (NICL) in Denver, Colorado. Imaging hardware and software techniques have been developed to meet specific needs in the scientific analysis of cores, and this project will provide software and training support for NICL to use and further refine this optical scanning technology with ice cores returning from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice core project. The intellectual merit of this project is based on the ability of optical imaging to provide much more useful indicators of core condition, as well as the ability of this approach to integrate additional scientific perspectives and data sources, such as electrical conductivity measurements. By supporting the collection of high resolution image data at the time of core processing, this project will ensure that all scientists have a high quality record of the original state of the core, even though portions of the core are consumed in analysis or degrade under long term storage. This support of the image analysis technology also will further improve the ability of scientists to collaborate on their interpretations of core characteristics, such as dating and identification of important layer and bubble features. The broader impacts from this work arise from the fact that ice core science addresses fundamental questions of human interest related to climate change and biogeochemical cycling, as well as directly informing policymakers. By ensuring that the optical imaging and analysis systems for the National Ice Core Laboratory are properly scaled to handle large-scale drilling projects, this project will ensure that the very large investments in ice core sample collection result in an archive of highly useful image data that can be shared widely among the broader scientific community and revisited for years to come. This project will also facilitate and improve the training of a new generation of scientists.