Abstract

The flow of ice is temperature‐dependent, but direct measurements of englacial temperature are sparse. The dielectric attenuation of radio waves through ice is also temperature‐dependent, and radar sounding of ice sheets is sensitive to this attenuation. Here we estimate depth‐averaged radar‐attenuation rates within the Greenland Ice Sheet from airborne radar‐sounding data and its associated radiostratigraphy. Using existing empirical relationships between temperature, chemistry, and radar attenuation, we then infer the depth‐averaged englacial temperature. The dated radiostratigraphy permits a correction for the confounding effect of spatially varying ice chemistry. Where radar transects intersect boreholes, radar‐inferred temperature is consistently higher than that measured directly. We attribute this discrepancy to the poorly recognized frequency dependence of the radar‐attenuation rate and correct for …

Date

2015

Authors

Joseph A MacGregor, Jilu Li, John D Paden, Ginny A Catania, Gary D Clow, Mark A Fahnestock, S Prasad Gogineni, Robert E Grimm, Mathieu Morlighem, Soumyaroop Nandi, Hélène Seroussi, David E Stillman

Journal

Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface

Publisher

John Wiley and Sons