Symposium: Fifty Years of Radioglaciology

Stanford University, Stanford CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project will support participants to attend the International Glaciological Society symposium on Five Decades of Radioglaciology to be held at Stanford University in July 2019. Radio-echo sounding is a powerful geophysical technique for directly characterizing the subsurface conditions of Earth's and planetary ice masses. Over the last five decades, a wide array of orbital, airborne, towed, and in situ instruments, platforms, and data analysis approaches for radar sounding have arisen. Continuing the development of radio-sounding techniques and instruments is paramount to understanding of subsurface conditions and processes that influence Earth's continental ice sheets and other planetary bodies and icy moons. The participant support will focus on early career scientists, particularly participants from groups that are underrepresented in STEM and polar science. The goal of the symposium is to bring together terrestrial and planetary radar scientists, glaciologists, geophysicists, and ice-sheet modelers to discuss advances in (i) radar sounding systems, (ii) mission concepts, (iii) signal processing, (iv) data analysis, (v) modeling, and (vi) scientific interpretation. The symposium seeks to attract radioglaciology experts working in ice-sheet, ice-shelf, mountain glacier, and planetary environments, as well as modelers and other geophysicists who are looking to apply and utilize radio-sounding in their field of study. The symposium will run over five days, with additional short courses to develop related skills and awareness of methods and tools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.