Laser Altimetry for Ice-Sheet Volume-Balance: A Use of the SOAR Facility

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This award is for support for a three year study to make precise and accurate measurements of the elevation of the Antarctic ice sheet in order to detect on-going changes in the surface of the ice sheet. The location and pattern of change discovered may be used to deduce the causes of the changes. Suitable equipment for these measurements are part of the Support Office for Aerogeophysical Research in Antarctica (SOAR) facility. This project will evaluate the quality and calibrate the measurements to be made by SOAR. Test will be made both while the aircraft is parked and during flights over ground-surveyed sites near the aircraft base camp. After the validation and calibration is complete, a limited measurement program to detect time changes in surface elevation of glaciologically interesting sites will be started. At the conclusion of the program the capability of the SOAR facility to accurately and precisely determine surface elevation will be established. SOAR will then be useful to all investigators who are interested in precision mapping and detection of change in the Antarctic ice sheet.