Antarctic Ice Sheet Radar Sounder Raw Energy Amplitudes

Hi-Capability Radar Sounder (HiCARS) Version 1 instrument collected raw return energy amplitude measurements over Antarctica. The data was gathered by the ICECAP project, funded by NSF and NERC with support from NASA Operation IceBridge. It is available in BIN, ISO, and HTML file formats.

Use Cases

• Analyzing subglacial bed elevation by examining return energy amplitudes.
• Investigating internal ice sheet layering and structure from radar waveforms.
• Calibrating and validating ice-penetrating radar models and algorithms.
• Mapping basal conditions and englacial features across the Antarctic continent.

Strengths

• Data originates from a major scientific project (ICECAP) funded by NSF, NERC, and NASA.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData indicates established importance.

Limitations

• No column names, row counts, or dataset size are provided by any source, limiting usability assessment.
• Sources conflict on last update date: Data.gov lists 2026-03-13, while NASA EarthData lists 2010-12-19.

Provenance

Source

Investigating the Cryospheric Evolution of the Central Antarctic Plate (ICECAP) project.

Collection Method

Collected via airborne Hi-Capability Radar Sounder (HiCARS) Version 1 instrument.

Freshness

2026-03-13 (from Data.gov, though this future date is anomalous)

Geography

Antarctica