Description: Ice shelves surrounding the Antarctic perimeter moderate ice discharge towards the ocean through buttressing. Ice-shelf evolution and integrity depend on the local surface accumulation, basal melting and on the spatially variable ice-shelf viscosity. These components of ice-shelf mass balance are often poorly constrained by observations and introduce uncertainties in ice-sheet projections. Isochronal radar stratigraphy is an observational archive for the atmospheric, oceanographic and ice-flow history of ice shelves. Here, we predict the stratigraphy of locally accumulated ice on ice shelves with a kinematic forward model for a given atmospheric and oceanographic scenario. This delineates the boundary between local meteoric ice (LMI) and continental meteoric ice (CMI). A large LMI to CMI ratio hereby marks ice shelves whose buttressing strength is more sensitive to changes in atmospheric precipitation patterns. A mismatch between the steady-state predictions of the kinematic forward model and observations from radar can highlight inconsistencies in the atmospheric and oceanographic input data or be an indicator for a transient ice-shelf history not accounted for in the model. We discuss pitfalls in numerical diffusion when calculating the age field and validate the kinematic model with the full Stokes ice-flow model Elmer/Ice. The Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf (East Antarctica) serves as a test case for this approach. There, we find a significant east–west gradient in the LMI / CMI ratio. The steady-state predictions concur with observations on larger spatial scales (〉10 km), but deviations on smaller scales are significant, e.g., because local surface accumulation patterns near the grounding zone are underestimated in Antarctic-wide estimates. Future studies can use these mismatches to optimize the input data or to pinpoint transient signatures in the ice-shelf history using the ever growing archive of radar observations of internal ice stratigraphy.

Description: Ice shelves regulate ice flow from the Antarctic ice sheet towards the ocean and their evolution depends on spatiotemporal patterns of surface accumulation, basal melt, and ice dynamics. These processes shape the ice stratigraphy, which can be imaged by radar and digitized in the form of internal reflection horizons (IRHs). Here, we synthesized IRHs from three airborne and ground-based surveys covering three ice rises and shelves in coastal eastern Dronning Maud Land (East Antarctica).

Description: Ice shelves regulate ice flow from the Antarctic ice sheet towards the ocean and their evolution depends on spatiotemporal patterns of surface accumulation, basal melt, and ice dynamics. These processes shape the ice stratigraphy, which can be imaged by radar and digitized in the form of internal reflection horizons (IRHs). Here, we synthesized IRHs from three airborne and ground-based surveys covering three ice rises and shelves in coastal eastern Dronning Maud Land (East Antarctica).

Description: Ice shelves regulate ice flow from the Antarctic ice sheet towards the ocean and their evolution depends on spatiotemporal patterns of surface accumulation, basal melt, and ice dynamics. These processes shape the ice stratigraphy, which can be imaged by radar and digitized in the form of internal reflection horizons (IRHs). Here, we synthesized IRHs from three airborne and ground-based surveys covering three ice rises and shelves in coastal eastern Dronning Maud Land (East Antarctica).

Description: Ice shelves regulate ice flow from the Antarctic ice sheet towards the ocean and their evolution depends on spatiotemporal patterns of surface accumulation, basal melt, and ice dynamics. These processes shape the ice stratigraphy, which can be imaged by radar and digitized in the form of internal reflection horizons (IRHs). Here, we synthesized IRHs from three airborne and ground-based surveys covering three ice rises and shelves in coastal eastern Dronning Maud Land (East Antarctica).

Description: Ice shelves regulate ice flow from the Antarctic ice sheet towards the ocean and their evolution depends on spatiotemporal patterns of surface accumulation, basal melt, and ice dynamics. These processes shape the ice stratigraphy, which can be imaged by radar and digitized in the form of internal reflection horizons (IRHs). Here, we synthesized IRHs from three airborne and ground-based surveys covering three ice rises and shelves in coastal eastern Dronning Maud Land (East Antarctica).

Description: This dataset is supplementary material for the manuscript "Autonomous Rover Enables Radar Profiling of Ice-Fabric Properties in Antarctica" submitted to TGRS-IEEE journal (under review). The dataset comprises phase-sensitive radio echo sounder (pRES) radar data collected in quad-polarimetric Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) mode during the Antarctic field season 2021-22 at the grounding zone of Ekström Ice Shelf in East Antarctica and was gathered with the logistical support of the Neumayer III station (Wesche et al., 2016). The dataset consists of several profiles: 1. Profile 1: 18 km, along-flow across grounding zone; 5 km were collected with 20 m shot spacing (QP_AlongFlow_20mSpacing) and 13 km with 100 m shot spacing (QP_AlongFlow_100mSpacing). 2. Profile 2: 5 km across-flow measurement at the grounding zone with 100 m spacings (QP_AcrossFlow_100mSpacing). 3. Profile 3: 0.7 km west of Neumayer III station with 1.5 m shot spacings (Neumayer_SAR_1.5mSpacing). 4. Two datasets of continuous measurements were obtained in a single burst while the rover was in motion (ContinuousQP). The data were collected to detect the change of ice fabric anisotropy in the grounding zone, where the ice transitions from grounded to floating. Additionally, the collection of quad-polarimetric MIMO pRES data was a proof of concept for autonomous data acquisition. The radar system was towed by an autonomous ice rover to predefined coordinates, triggering the radar. The antenna setup used a non-standard [Transmitter (VH) - (HV) Receiver] combination for quad-polarimetric (QP) data acquisition, requiring special consideration during processing, as detailed in the main paper (under review - TGRS IEEE) and RezaErshadi/pRES_InTheField_101 GitHub repository (doi:10.5281/zenodo.10064672). For the SAR profile the [Transmitter (HH) - (HH) Receiver] antenna setup was used. The pRES data were collected in standard mode using a 1-s chirp (Nicholls et al., 2015) in start-stop mode unless otherwise specified.

Description: Ice shelves are widely known to slow the transfer of Antarctic grounded ice to the ocean, especially if their flow is decelerated by local pinning points. Their longevity is strongly influenced by the oceanic conditions in the ice shelf cavity. Yet basal melting is poorly constrained by observations and consequently poorly parameterized in models. We map the internal ice stratigraphy with the final goal of using it as a temporal archive of atmospheric, ice-dynamic and, most importantly, oceanic boundary conditions. Here, we start by interpreting data from AWI’s airborne, coherent ultra-wideband radar collected over ice shelves and ice rises in coastal Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. We demonstrate examples of traced 3D isochrone surfaces for deducing (i) the accumulation history, (ii) the history of basal melting at the grounding line, and (iii) the evolution of ice dynamic features (e.g., Raymond bumps). This work contributes to international efforts (e.g., SCAR AntArchitecture) of mapping the internal ice stratigraphy across Antarctica. In conjunction with inverse modelling, the internal ice stratigraphy will eventually form an observational baseline to inform numerical models about relevant processes at the ice-shelf base.

Description: Ice shelves are widely known to slow the transfer of Antarctic grounded ice to the ocean, especially if their flow is decelerated by local pinning points. Their longevity is influenced by variations in ice dynamics, surface accumulation and oceanic conditions in the ice shelf cavity. This is reflected in the ice shelf structure, which can be characterized by the shape of internal radar reflection horizons. We aim to map the internal ice shelf stratigraphy of ice shelves, starting with the narrow belt of ice-shelves in the Dronning Maud Land area. The final goal will be to evaluate these as a spatiotemporal archive of ice provenance and ice dynamics. The bulk of the data presented here were collected with AWI’s airborne multi frequency ultra-wideband radar and we combine these new observations with airborne and ground-based radar surveys from previous years. We present a consistent set of internal radar isochrones on a catchment scale for the Roi Baudoin area including the Ragnhild ice streams, the grounding-zone, the iceshelf and multiple ice rises. Using pattern matching technique we can link isochrones across different ice rises in the area, and hence provide first observational constraints on how ice rises jointly react to changes in atmospheric and oceanographic forcings. We also find a number of interesting features including dynamically induced dips in shear zones, truncating layers at the ice-shelf base, and the development of a meteoric ice layer distinguishing advected from newly accumulated ice in the iceshelf. The time series provided by radar observations over the last 10 years also offers the potential to map temporal changes. We use ice-flow modelling to provide age constraints for some internal layers and delineate portions within the shelf as a function of their advection history, hence marking areas of differing rheologies within the shelf. Taken together, this case study on a catchment scale is a primer to unravel the information stored in the isochronal stratigraphy of coastal Antarctica and contributes to international efforts (e.g., SCAR AntArchitecture) of mapping stratigraphy on ice sheet scales.