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Instrument

SIR
Shallow Ice Radar

The Shallow Ice Radar (SIR) is an airborne ice-penetrating radar system operated by the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) at Columbia University as part of the IcePod instrument suite. It is a linear frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar used to measure ice depth and thickness. SIR can image up to 450 meters below the ice surface and produce detailed images of ice shelf structures at a resolution of 25 centimeters at a nominal flight altitude of 750 meters above ground level. It operates at a center frequency of 2 GHz and has a bandwidth of 600 MHz.

NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory passes Antarctica's tallest peak, Mount Vinson, on Oct. 22, 2012, during a flight over the continent to measure changes in the massive ice sheet and sea ice. Credit: NASA/Michael Studinger (Photography courtesy NASA Images)

Overview

Instrument Details

Radar
Earth Science > Cryosphere > Glaciers/ice Sheets > Ice Shelves
Earth Science > Cryosphere > Snow/ice > Ice Depth/thickness
Earth Science > Cryosphere > Sea Ice > Ice Depth/thickness
Earth Science > Spectral/engineering > Radar
Earth Science > Terrestrial Hydrosphere > Glaciers/ice Sheets > Ice Shelves
Subsurface - Land
N/A
25 cm
2 GHz
Currently unavailble

  • Currently unavailable

  • Currently unavailable

  • LDEO

  • Currently unavailable

  • Currently unavailable

    • data center outside NASA

Instrument Operation

MIZOPEX

Marginal Ice Zone Ocean and Ice Observations and Processes Experiment

2013
Southern Beaufort Sea, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
view all deployment dates
1 Deployment
· 0 Data Products

Data Products