2011 Edition - Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - The ...

CReSIS Research » »Data Collected on World's Fastest Flowing GlaciersResearchers from the Center forthe Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets(CReSIS) spent two months thisspring in Greenland, measuring the icethickness and surface topography ofsome of the fastest flowing glaciers in theworld. The collected data allow climateresearchers to better assess the changesin the Greenland ice sheet and make moreaccurate predictions of rising sea levels.EECS Research Professor FernandoRodriguez-Morales led the team thatincluded EECS graduate students DanielGomez-Garcia and Logan Smith. Theteam completed 12 science flights overfour different glaciers. Dr. Rodriguez-Morales oversaw the field operationsand ran the Multi-Channel Radar DepthSounder (MCoRDS), which measured icethickness, during most flights. Gomez-Garcia operated the Accumulation radarand the Ku-band altimeter. The formermaps variations in the snow accumulationrate while the latter retrieves ice surfacetopography data with high resolution.Gomez-Garcia also developed processingsoftware for the radars. Smith, whoremained on the ground most days,processed the data collected by theCReSIS radars.“These are some of the most significantoutlet glaciers, which are the maintributaries for getting ice from the interiorof Greenland to the calving front, or outto the edges, where it breaks off intoicebergs that melt and can potentiallylead to a rise in sea level,” said Smith.Researchers made acouple major changesto MCoRDS before thedeployment. To improveresolution and increasethe number of antennaelements, the MCoRDSoperated at 195 MHz,as opposed to thetraditional frequencyof 150 MHz. CReSISresearchers decreasedthe size of antenna whileincreasing the numberof them on each wing.This new configurationoffered greater flexibilityto rotate antennaorientation, helpingduring a flight.reduce surface clutterin crevassed areas andminimize electronicinterference from aircraft sub-systems.The associated electronics were upgradedto capture the received signals from all12 antenna elements, which enabledpowerful beam forming capabilities inpost-processing.While Gomez-Garcia had taken part in theNASA Operation IceBridge program lastyear, this was his first trip to the Arctic.He said the smaller plane allowed him tomore easily interact with Dr. Rodriguez-Morales and the pilots. The CReSIS groupwas the only one on board the TwinOtter aircraft, giving researchers greaterflexibility with their flights. If the weatherwas good and they needed to takeEECS graduate student Daniel Gomez-Garcia takes calibration measurementsPhoto by Logan Smithanother pass over a target of interest, theycould.The sporadic spring weather complicatedthe mission. It became a wait-and-seegame. The researchers would get up andprepare for a flight that could then bedelayed or postponed for the day. Dr.Rodriguez-Morales noted that people whohad been going there for 20 years said itwas the worst year they had seen.“What we’re trying to achieve is alwaysto get better results than previous years,and there’s a lot of things that we haveimproved,” said Gomez-Garcia. •Nick Mott contributed to this article.www.eecs.ku.edu