SUMMER 2011 The Icebreaker CENTER FOR REMOTE SENSING OF ICE SHEETS

Twin Otter Flies in Greenland // BY NICK MOTT A team of scientists and engineers stuck in an isolated, snowed-in hotel in remote Greenland. Their eyes are glued to their computer screens and they are fervently trying to analyze something. It sounds like the plot of a science fiction horror film – John Carpenter’s The Thing on the other end of the world. But on their March 15 to May 6 expedition to Greenland, the Twin Otter team was all science, no fiction.

“We were trying to determine the thickness of the ice in several of Greenland’s fastest flowing glaciers,” said Logan Smith, a graduate student in charge of on-site data processing during the mission. Operating out of Ilulissat, Kulusuk, and Nuuk, the CReSIS team, led by Fernando Rodriguez-Morales, flew lines targeting Jakobshavn Fjord, the Helheim and South East Glaciers, and the Nuuk Glacier. On board the Twin 2011: Twin Otter on the ground in Greenland. Otter, CReSIS engineers utilized the MCoRDS ground-penetrating radar, an Photo by Daniel Gomez-Garcia. accumulation radar, and the Ku-band altimeter. “These are the most significant outlet glaciers, which are the main tributaries for getting ice from the interior of Greenland to the calving front, or out to the edges where it breaks off and eventually leads to a rise in sea TABLE OF CONTENTS level,” Smith said. Rodriguez-Morales said that Jakobshavn, one of the fastest-moving 01. Twin Otter Flies in Greenland glaciers in the world, has long been a focal point of scientific interest. The 02. CReSIS Team to Test UAV in Greenland // CReSIS team completed a number of radar improvements to better accomplish Research Experience at CReSIS the tricky task of accurately sounding the bottom of the ice sheet and avoiding 03. Ghana REU Students Relish Time in CReSIS, surface clutter. The depth sounder operated at 195 MHz, as opposed to the America 150 MHz frequency of years past. The scientists and engineers on the mission 04. PNAS Publication Highlights CReSIS Researcher’s also decreased the size of the antennas to accommodate a change in antenna Accomplishment // ECSU Among the Nation’s array on the plane. Best Institutions The Twin Otter operated with six elements per wing, but the size decrease P-3 Antenna Array Changes Produce Faster, allowed CReSIS engineers to rotate the elements 90 degrees. “Now they’re 05. Clearer Results perpendicular,” Rodriguez-Morales said. “They used to be in the direction of 06. Unraveling Byrd Glacier travel. It helps to minimize clutter.” 07. CReSIS Welcomes Three New Staff Members Fieldwork always involves trial and error and unexpected setbacks, and it relies heavily on the ingenuity and improvisational skills of the involved scientists. With a new system operating at a new frequency, the Twin Otter CHECK US OUT ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER: team faced an unexpected source of interference: the strobe lights on the tips http://www.facebook.com/pages/CReSIS-Center-for- of the aircraft’s wings. An interfering signal masks the signal the researchers Remote-Sensing-of-Ice-Sheets/104872089592282 are trying to detect, which is quite weak. Normal sources of interference come from inside the plane. As researchers examine the data from each antenna, http://twitter.com/#!/CReSIS they usually see the interfering signal decrease as they move away from the

Twin Otter Flies in Greenland, Newsletter // The Ice Breaker // Summer 2011 1 Continued on Page 5 www.cresis.ku.edu CReSIS Team to Test UAV in Greenland // BY NICK MOTT Out in North Lawrence, past the Teepee, “purveyors of controls the plane as it takes off and lands. When it reaches altitude, the potables and edibles”, past the one-and-only “authentic” pilot turns the control over to autopilot. Flight test engineers at computer Jellystone Park, the Airport Motel, and seemingly endless terminals fine tune the flight path with GPS Waypoint Navigation. Kansas fields, past even Don’s Diesel and a retro silver What the trip really boils down to, Hale said, “is some aircraft system camper, sits a hidden-away hangar. On any given day, checks, some radar system checks, and then some integrated platform one can easily spot a Valkyrie motorcycle, a gleaming science checks.” At NEEM, Hale said that he hopes to get in “as many yellow corvette, an old hot rod. Here, however, it is flights as humanly possible.” The final number of flights, though, engines and flight that matter. And it is here, in the KU ultimately depends on the weather. Other sensors and aircraft at CReSIS offer high-altitude, long- Aerospace Engineering Hangar, that the Meridian UAV, range, and long-endurance capabilities, but lack some degree of or unpiloted aerial vehicle, received its final preparations maneuverability. “They take wide passes,” Hale said. “They’re good for before departing for its July 15 - August 15 test flights at interior ice and for wide spacing arrays.” Smaller, unmanned vehicles the NEEM camp in Greenland. like the Meridian, though, are particularly suited for outlet glaciers. Six years in the works, the UAV will make its first flight over the horizon No pilot means less limitations and more fuel-efficiency. “We’re very during the mission. “We have not left line of sight before,” said Dr. Rick maneuverable. Theoretically what we can do is the very fine surveys Hale, head of the UAV team. “Once the ground pilots can’t see it there’s around the perimeters.” no way to recover other than with the on-board intelligence systems – so “Right now we’ve been busy getting the aircraft ready,” Lykins whether you’re two kilometers or two hundred kilometers out, I guess said. “We went to Utah back in April to do flight tests, and since we’ve you could argue you’re in the same safety mode.” The Meridian will fly returned we’ve done a lot of rewiring the aircraft. Yesterday we did an within 25-50 kilometers of base camp at NEEM. engine test with the radar installed to test for any EMI (Electromagnetic Although the Meridian has already undergone test flights in Antarctica Interference).” Before departure, team members have to focus on and on a military base in Utah, CReSIS engineers have not yet had a packing, and, due to the remote location of the NEEM camp, making chance to test the efficacy of the radar on the UAV. The Meridian radar, sure all necessary items are ready to go. used as a depth-sounding radar, is a one-channel system which transmits Total flight time of UAV missions in previous years amounts to only a on four antennas and receives on four antennas. “Hopefully we’ll send few total hours. “Ideally we’ll dwarf the total flight time of the aircraft in the aircraft out to its limits and get some good data from the radar,” said this mission,” Hale said. flight test engineer Ryan Lykins. During the next five years of development, the UAV team will work This trip will also serve as the first opportunity to test the operation on fine-tuning the aircraft. Hale and Lykins said that engineers will be of the UAV off of skis. “We’ve operated off grass, we’ve operated off hard at work developing an increasingly autonomous radar system, and pavement, we’ve operated off ice, but not off soft snow,” Hale said. The that they hope to cut the total crew number with every deployment. pilot, clutching a large RC joystick – an RC car-obsessed child’s dream – Research Experience at CReSIS // BY SHAWN SCHALLER

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR UNDERGRADUATES RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR TEACHERS For two summer months every year, the National Science Foundation- The CReSIS Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program has funded CReSIS Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program been a new undertaking in 2011 that brought pre-service teachers to brings students from diversified backgrounds and diverse locations to the Center for two summer months. The goal for this program is to the University of Kansas (KU) and the Center’s partner institutions. introduce its participants to some of the research activities at CReSIS The purpose of the program is to provide undergraduate students in and help them prepare materials for classroom teaching. This summer, science and engineering with invaluable opportunities to gain research two RET students have joined the CReSIS team. experience by working with faculty mentors who are actively involved in the Center’s research activities. To learn more about the 2011 REU students, please visit: This summer, 34 students were selected for the REU program. Nine https://www.cresis.ku.edu/education/undergraduate/ students are working at KU, 11 students each are working at Indiana reu-program/2011 University and Elizabeth City State University (ECSU), and two students are working at the University of Washington. In addition, two students To learn more about the 2011 RET students, please visit: from Accra, Ghana, have been selected through an REU grant from the https://www.cresis.ku.edu/education/k-12/teacher- U. S. Navy, and they will perform their research activities at both KU workshops/ret-program and ECSU.

Newsletter // The Ice Breaker // Summer 2011 2 www.cresis.ku.edu Ghana REU Students Relish Time in CReSIS, America // BY SHAWN SCHALLER Accra, Ghana is approximately 6,253 miles away from Lawrence, Kan. To put it in CReSIS terms, that’s roughly equivalent to a round trip from CReSIS headquarters in Lawrence, Kansas to Jakobshavn Glacier, Greenland, and then some.

For Rockson Armaah and Ignatius Williams, this meant an 11.5 hour flight from Accra to Atlanta and a subsequent 1.3 hour flight from Atlanta to Kansas City. After a two-hour wait at the airport and an hour-long bus ride, the two Ghana- ian students finally arrived in Lawrence, Kan. Williams and Armaah, a senior and junior studying Oceanography and Fisheries, respectively, at the University of Ghana, made the long trip to the American Midwest to par- ticipate in the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at CReSIS. The two students spent three weeks at the University of Kansas in Lawrence and four more weeks at Elizabeth City State University in Elizabeth City, N.C. Armaah said that originally, he and Williams were sched- uled to receive their introduction to the program at Elizabeth City State University in Elizabeth City, N.C. However, the final exam schedule at the University of Ghana in Accra de- layed their departure and instead of stopping at ECSU for the program introduction, Armaah and Williams came straight to Lawrence. As with their lengthy flights and waits, the Gha- naian students simply took this unexpected change of plans in stride. Rockson Armaah Staying in Hashinger Hall and working next to the other REU students, Williams said, led to a lot of quality extra- curricular learning experiences. Bowling, Worlds of Fun, and fine collegiate dormitory dining were but a few of the American cultural experiences that Williams and Armaah enjoyed as part of the program. Then, after a three-week introduction to different remote sensing-re- lated topics, Matlab software training, and Polycom conferences with Mr. Je’aime Powell, their program mentor, Williams and Armaah boarded a plane for North Carolina. There, they were introduced personally to Powell, completed their per- sonal websites, and undertook a remote sensing-based ground truth veri- fication project. Mr. Powell helped them make the most of their free time in N.C. as well. “Actually we got in these go-karts and raced,” Williams said, remem- bering Armaah and his first experiences with Powell, “so he was actually really fun!” Back at CReSIS, Williams said that Powell was flexible, fun, and easy to be with while working, too. Armaah and Williams were extremely grateful for the opportunity to work with Powell and with CReSIS. Both said that they were able to sig- nificantly broaden their scope of knowledge in terms of remote sensing. For Williams, the opportunity to sharpen the specific skills he’ll use for his thesis was particularly important. The Ghanaian students’ favorite parts of the program were the people. “We wish would come back to KU and say bye to our wonderful folks,” said Armaah. Williams is already a step further. “I’m actually thinking about coming Ignatius Williams back,” Williams said, but next time it would be just “for fun.”

Newsletter // The Ice Breaker // Summer 2011 3 www.cresis.ku.edu PNAS Publication Highlights CReSIS Researcher’s Accomplishment // BY SHAWN SCHALLER

Stephen Price’s paper “Committed “We still have a long way to go be- sea-level rise for the next century from fore we have rigorous predictions from Greenland ice sheet dynamics during improved ice sheet models,” said Price on the past decade,” was published in the the overall outlook of his paper. “But… May 17, 2011 issue of Proceedings of those models are coming along and can the National Academy of Sciences of provide some useful insight now.” the United States of America (PNAS). According to an article entitled “Green- Dr. Price, a scientist with the Fluid Dy- land ice in no hurry to raise seas” by New namics and Solid Mechanics Group at Scientist environment reporter Michael Los Alamos National Laboratory, is Marshall, Price’s precise modeling of the also an active CReSIS partner. Greenland ice sheet allowed him to make a more physically based prediction of Green- “Relieved,” was the only word Price found to land’s potential contribution to future sea describe his feelings on his accomplishment. level. Price’s prediction for sea-level rise “We’ve been trying to get the… results from this from changes in the flow of Greenland’s paper published for a while now but had prob- outlet glaciers is approximately 1/2 of a lems even getting the editors to send it out for widely cited previous prediction, which fo- review.” cused on estimating an upper bound for Whether he admits it or not, Price should also sea level rise by the year 2100. be proud of both his paper’s content and its suc- In his paper’s abstract, Price says that cess. According to the PNAS website, the serial he and his partners’ three-dimensional is one of the most heavily-cited scientific journals model of the Greenland ice sheet precisely CReSIS researcher Steve Price, from the Los in the world simulates the ice sheet’s mass losses dur- Alamos National Laboratory, recently had his paper In Price’s defense, a certain amount of relief ing the past decade. The model then proj- ects the simulation through the remainder on the Greenland ice sheet published in the PNAS is due as well. He and his associates, Anthony scientific serial. Payne, Ian Howat and Ben Smith, had worked of the century, producing an estimate for on this particular bit of research and the resulting the ice sheet’s minumum contribution to paper for more than a year. future sea level rise. ECSU Among the Nation’s Best Institutions // BY SHAWN SCHALLER

Elizabeth City, N.C.: CReSIS partner Prestigious distinctions are nothing new thereby contributing to its sustained success. institution, Elizabeth City State Uni- to Johnson and ECSU. In 2010, the Wash- Unfortunately, the ECSU family doesn’t versity (ECSU), was recently ranked ington Monthly ranked the university No. have much time to sit back and admire its America’s No. 2 public college in the 11 among all baccalaureate institutions in own accomplishments. Though proud of the South region and the No. 17 Historical- America, missing the top 10 by a fraction recognition, Johnson’s focus was fixed on the ly Black College of 2011 by U.S. News of a point. The publication’s unique scoring future. For Johnson, sustaining and building & World Report. system awarded the No. 10 spot to Benedict on such tremendous success all boils down College of South Carolina instead. to a single factor, one that happens to be an U.S. News & World Report determines its col- Johnson primarily credited the achieve- ECSU specialty. legiate rankings using standard indicators such ment to ECSU’s involvement in the North “ECSU administrators, faculty, and staff as graduation and retention rates and faculty Carolina Tomorrow Initiative. The initiative’s will continue to maintain a family atmo- strength. An additional qualifying criterion set purpose, Johnson said, is to discover how the sphere,” Johnson said. “It has been stated for the regional college rankings is that each school can appropriately respond to twenty- by many, ‘Students don’t care how much you school awards fewer than half its degrees to first century challenges facing its students, know, until they know how much you care.’” non-liberal arts disciplines. the state of North Carolina, and the entire With a staff so passionate and devoted to “ECSU was that nurturing institution of 1500 nation. This goal will be met by effectively its university’s success, the sky is the limit for students that prepared me for life, society, and fulfilling three individual missions: teaching, ECSU. Greater feats, and even higher rank- my career,” ECSU education program manager scholarship and research, and public service. ings, are certainly within reach for this presti- and CReSIS staff member Darnell Johnson said Johnson said the organization shapes and gious institution. of his feelings on his alma mater’s recognition. guides current and future university priorities, “What a thrill!” Newsletter // The Ice Breaker // Summer 2011 4 www.cresis.ku.edu Twin Otter Flies in Greenland Continued from Page 1 plane. In this case, though, the opposite graduate student and radar engineer on the was very encouraging that we got all those occurred: the interference was strongest mission. “But it’s an experience we enjoyed. flights in, given the weather conditions. I next to the tip of the wing. The problem We had time in Kulusuk to actually develop think we’ve still got a lot of work to do with temporarily perplexed those involved, but some other software for both the Ku-band the data. So it’s tough to say just yet, but it CReSIS’ talented team quickly discovered the and accumulation radars.” felt like we put in a lot of hard work in the source of the issue. “It was nice because it Smith said that though they had to trek field, and I hope it’s rewarded with some was a pretty easy fix,” Smith said. through a mile-and-a-half of several feet conclusive results,” Smith said. During the mission, the weather also of snow to reach town, the team made the Although it’s impossible to make a served as a source of frustration. “This journey more than once. “It’s very interesting comparison in all cases, and some data year it’s been worse than ever,” Rodriguez- to see new cultures,” he said. “It was one requires advanced processing techniques, Morales said. “People who have been going of the more unchanged forms of the native Rodriguez-Morales said that he saw a clear there for 20 years, even they said it was the Greenlandic people, how they would’ve lived improvement in some of the data. worst they’d ever seen.” Often, the CReSIS more so than some of the bigger cities where “What we’re trying to achieve is always team would be awake and ready to fly for the we were.” to get better results than previous years, day at six or seven in the morning, only to The group dynamics of the scientists on and there’s a lot of things that we have find that the weather prevented any flights at the mission helped the team get through the improved,” said Gomez. all. “It can be frustrating at times. But that often burdensome effects of the weather. Rodriguez-Morales said that there is also makes it really exciting when you actually “Sometimes you can get some cabin fever if always a need for new, better data and get to go out and fly,” Smith said. the weather’s bad enough that you can’t get repeated paths for the sake of comparison. The team faced the worst of weather in outside for a few days,” Smith said. “But the A return trip is scheduled for 2013. In the Kulusuk, operating out of a tiny hotel more people that I was there with were all really meantime, the CReSIS team will be working than a mile from the nearest village. “In Nuuk great, so there was really no internal conflict on the miniaturization of instruments to we were able to do everything in three days. within the group.” enable longer flights on smaller planes. You can compare that to Kulusuk, where it Despite the weather, the Twin Otter team took us three weeks,” said Daniel Gomez, a was able to get in just over a dozen flights. “It

P-3 Antenna Array Changes Produce Faster, Clearer Results // BY SHAWN SCHALLER Before CReSIS embarked on its 2011 field season, a few adjustments had to be made. For the P-3 aircraft, this meant major structural and elec- trical changes to the radar depth sounder system and the antenna arrays. In early March, the CReSIS team began field operations on the P-3: first in test flights out of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia and then on to Greenland and Alas- ka for science flights. The CReSIS team joined with four other instru- ment teams operating two LIDARs, a gravimeter, a magnetometer, and a cartographic camera sensor in ad- Image courtesy of Rick Hale: New antenna arrays line the underside of the P-3 aircraft dition to CReSIS’ four radars. Two and a half months later, in the middle upgrades can be an uncertain, stressful time. Ultimately, Leuschen said that he was pleased and of May, the P-3 team returned to CReSIS with that the mission was “very successful.” a bevy of positive results. Discussing the data produced by the deployment brought a smile of P-3 Antenna Array Changes Produce Faster, Clearer Results, relief to CReSIS Deputy Director Carl Leuschen’s Continued on Page 7 face, as the testing phase of new elements and Newsletter // The Ice Breaker // Summer 2011 5 www.cresis.ku.edu Unraveling Byrd Glacier // BY LEIGH STEARNS

I first started studying Byrd Glacier almost 10 up the glacier. Only when we years ago as a new PhD student at the University understand the physical pro- of Maine. I was using a new suite of NASA satel- cesses that control how fast lite imagery, capable of imaging farther south than Byrd Glacier flows can we previous sensors, to derive ice velocities. Byrd Gla- model how it will behave in a cier was my first guinea pig, and I spent almost 18 warming climate. months pouring over images, trying to develop the In November, our field methodology that would allow us to quantify how team of six (two graduate fast the glacier flows using repeat imagery. students, two professional mountaineers, and two lead Byrd Glacier is one of the largest glaciers in Antarctica – 20 km scientists -- myself and my wide and 200 km long – and transports ice from the interior of PhD advisor) headed to Ant- East Antarctica into the Ross Ice Shelf. Despite its size and po- arctica to deploy 28 GPS units tential sea level contribution, relatively little is known about it. on and around Byrd Glacier. The general consensus was that Byrd, like many East Antarctic The GPS receivers are secured glaciers, was slow, boring and not worth the scientific scrutiny. to the ice with metal poles, Through detailed remote sensing work, we showed that Byrd and they record the precise Glacier is actually more dynamic than originally thought. Our position of these poles every data showed that the whole glacier accelerated more than 10 five seconds. Most (21) of percent over a 6-10 month interval in 2006. This speed-up oc- the instruments were “sum- November 2010: A serac rising over the curred right after two subglacial lakes in the catchment of Byrd mer-only” GPS units and surface of Byrd Glacier. drained; water from these lakes likely drained along the ice-bed stayed on the glacier from Photo by Brandon Gillette. boundary of Byrd Glacier, lubricating it and causing acceleration. November to February; these Byrd Glacier’s sensitivity to subglacial water brought renewed units were relatively small and interest and funding support. Only one other field team has ever light (~75 lbs) and were charged with one 40-watt solar panel. Although conducted field measurements on Byrd (in the 1970s), and satel- logistically much more difficult, we also want to know how the glacier be- lite coverage, while covering a large spatial area, fails to capture haves throughout the winter. We deployed seven units that will (hopefully) the fine-scale changes in ice motion (most velocities derived from record data all year long; three of these are on the trunk of the glacier, two satellite imagery are averaged over several months – the time are over the subglacial lakes, and two are on bedrock (our base stations). separation between two usable cloud-free images). Our current Each of these units has several 50 or 80-watt solar panels, wind turbines, NSF project focuses on understanding the small-scale changes and 10 car batteries; the total weight of each ‘winter-over’ unit is over that Byrd undergoes – whether due to tides, subglacial water, or 1,000 lbs (not including all the gear needed to install them). Despite their ocean circulation – and how these changes in ice flow propagate skepticism and disbelief, the pilots and logistics coordinators in Antarctica provided wonderful support, and we managed to get all this gear out to the glacier. I imagine (honestly, I don’t know!) that seeing Byrd Glacier for the first time is akin to internet dating. I had studied every feature with satellite imagery in such detail and with such familiarity that I felt I knew Byrd inti- mately. But, when we got there, I was surprised – the adjacent cliffs were more precipitous and colorful with red and grey metamorphic rocks; the glacier surface, with crevasses that looked so organized in imagery, was chaotic and rough; and the enormity of the glacier, which seemed so man- ageable on my computer screen, was hard to grasp. Despite our fair share of weather delays, unbearably cold winds, faulty cables, dead batteries, and constraints on both fuel and the pilots’ time, we successfully deployed and retrieved almost all of the GPS units. Seven ‘winter-over’ units are still out there, hopefully resilient to the strong ka- tabatic winds and recording data right now. We’ll find out how they fared when we return next November. In the meantime, we’ll be busy processing GPS data and new high-resolution imagery to try to unravel what makes Byrd Glacier tick. November 2010: Leigh Stearns and Kristi Schild wiring the GPS unit and battery pack. Photo by Peter Braddock. Newsletter // The Ice Breaker // Summer 2011 6 www.cresis.ku.edu CReSIS Welcomes Three New Staff Members // BY SHAWN SCHALLER

Kuang-Chen Hsu joined CReSIS in June Amie Vo joined CReSIS in June 2011 as Erin Zingré joined CReSIS the Graphic Designer 2011 as the Adobe Flash Developer. Hsu, a Student Assistant Administrator. She in May 2011. Ms. Zingré, a native of Fort Scott, who most recently received Master’s is set to graduate from the University of Kan., is set to graduate from the University of Degree from Bowling Green State Kansas in 2013 with a Bachelor’s Degree Kansas in the spring of 2013 with Bachelor’s University in Ohio, is working toward in Computer Science. Beyond her rigor- Degrees in Art History and Graphic Design and earning his Ph.D. in Education Technology ous work and school schedules, Vo is also an Associate’s Degree in French. When not from the University of Kansas. In his free the president of the University of Kansas studying or working at CReSIS, she works as time, he enjoys traveling and watching Kendo Club. While at CReSIS, she hopes a freelance designer, plays the cello in an indie sports. While at CReSIS, he hopes to learn to gain more knowledge of the cutting rock band called Panda Circus, and teaches cello how to use digital technology to design edge technology and research presented to grade school students. While at CReSIS, she E-learning content and develop a design by the Center, as well as find ways to intends to gain work experience and utilize all curriculum. contribute to it. her graphic design knowledge to promote the CReSIS cause.

P-3 Antenna Array Changes Produce Faster, Clearer Results Continued from Page 5 In summary, the changes made to the radar sys- The changes to the antenna array on the P-3 variations in air flow, vibrations, and the force tem and P-3 antenna arrays allow CReSIS to re- aircraft were a completion of work that began pressing upon the structures. ceive the clearest data ever received and to pro- the previous year. Fifteen total elements were During the Greenland deployment, it was duce results in a much shorter time frame than installed, nearly doubling the total of eight ele- quickly apparent that all the hard work the P-3 was previously possible. ments previously attached to the aircraft’s belly. team logged during the winter months paid off According to Electrical Engineering and Com- According to Leuschen, four different instru- in full. According to Rodriguez-Morales, Opera- puter Science professor Fernando Rodriguez- ments operated on the aircraft: the Radar Depth tion IceBridge Project Scientist Michael Studinger Morales, the upgrades reduced Radio Frequency Sounder, the Snow Radar, the Ku Band-Altim- said that some of the results produced directly in Interference (RFI), optimized radar settings dur- eter, and the Accumulation Radar. Rodriguez- the field were “the coolest radar images [he’s] ing sea-ice flights, and utilized new data process- Morales added that the P-3 radar depth sounder seen of the Greenland Ice Sheet.” ing software to produce ‘quick-look’ results for also utilized the newly-developed 16-channel As for his own opinion, Rodriguez-Morales accelerated echogram production. receiver system so that all fifteen antenna ele- was also pleased with the results, saying that Many of the upgrades were directly connect- ments could be monitored simultaneously (with they were certainly as good as expected. How- ed to the physical structures and mounting sys- a spare). ever, he was even happier with the work of the tems of the antenna arrays. In order to increase Prior to the Greenland deployment, the P-3 P-3 team throughout the mission. sensitivity, members of the University of Kansas’ underwent numerous simulations and tests to “This mission was a success,” Rodriguez- Aerospace Engineering and Electrical Engineer- ensure that the improved antenna arrays could Morales said, “thanks to the excellent work ef- ing and Computer Science departments worked produce quality data amid the rigors of cling- fort from our technical team.” together to replace the metal elements within ing to the underside of an aircraft in flight. The the antennas and mounting systems. antennas were tested for consistency through

Newsletter // The Ice Breaker // Summer 2011 7 www.cresis.ku.edu Nichols Hall 2335 Irving Hill Rd. Lawrence, KS 66045-7612 (785) 864-4390

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