Franke, Steven; Jansen, Daniela; Binder, Tobias; Paden, John D; Dörr, Nils; Gerber, Tamara Annina; Miller, Heinrich; Dahl-Jensen, Dorthe; Helm, Veit; Steinhage, Daniel; Weikusat, Ilka; Wilhelms, Frank; Eisen, Olaf (2025): ARK 2018: AWI airborne ultra-wideband radar data over the shear margins at the onset region of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS) (EGRIP-NOR-2018 Project) [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.983191
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Published: 2025-06-20 • DOI registered: 2025-07-19
Abstract:
This dataset contains airborne radar data acquired using the AWIs multi-channel ultra-wideband radar system (AWI UWB) during the Arctic season of 2018. The radar profiles cover the onset region of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS). The radar data has been acquired in May 2018 with the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) multichannel ultra-wideband radar mounted on the Polar6 aircraft. Radar profiles cover an area of ~24 000 km^2 and extend over the well-defined shear margins of the NEGIS. The survey area is centred at the location of the drill site of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) and several radar lines intersect at this location. The survey layout is designed to (1) map the stratigraphic signature of the shear margins with radar profiles aligned perpendicular to ice flow and (2) trace the radar stratigraphy along several flow lines. While we are able to resolve radar reflections in the deep stratigraphy, we cannot fully resolve the steeply inclined reflections at the tightly folded shear margins in the lower part of the ice column. The NEGIS is causing the most significant discrepancies between numerically modelled and observed ice surface velocities. Given the high likelihood of future climate and ocean warming, this extensive data set of new high-resolution radar data in combination with the EastGRIP ice core will be a key contribution to understanding the past and future dynamics of the NEGIS. The data are available as netCDF files (including waveforms and metadata), KML files of the profile line locations, and quicklook images of the radargrams.
Keyword(s):
Related to:
Eisen, Olaf; Steinhage, Daniel; Franke, Steven; Helm, Veit; Binder, Tobias; Drews, Reinhard; Eagles, Graeme; Humbert, Angelika; Jansen, Daniela; Jokat, Wilfried; Lambrecht, Astrid; Mieth, Matthias; Riedel, Sven; Miller, Heinrich (2024): Collection of datasets from AWI's radio-echo sounding systems on ice sheets and glaciers [dataset bibliography]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.972094
References:
Franke, Steven; Bons, Paul D; Streng, Kyra; Mundel, Felicitas; Binder, Tobias; Weikusat, Ilka; Bauer, Catherine C; Paden, John D; Dörr, Nils; Helm, Veit; Steinhage, Daniel; Eisen, Olaf; Jansen, Daniela (2023): Three-dimensional topology dataset of folded radar stratigraphy in northern Greenland. Scientific Data, 10(1), 525, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02339-0
Franke, Steven; Jansen, Daniela; Binder, Tobias; Dörr, Nils; Helm, Veit; Paden, John D; Steinhage, Daniel; Eisen, Olaf (2020): Bed topography and subglacial landforms in the onset region of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream. Annals of Glaciology, 61(81), 143-153, https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2020.12
Franke, Steven; Jansen, Daniela; Binder, Tobias; Paden, John D; Dörr, Nils; Gerber, Tamara Annina; Miller, Heinrich; Dahl-Jensen, Dorthe; Helm, Veit; Steinhage, Daniel; Weikusat, Ilka; Wilhelms, Frank; Eisen, Olaf (2022): Airborne ultra-wideband radar sounding over the shear margins and along flow lines at the onset region of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream. Earth System Science Data, 14(2), 763-779, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-763-2022
Gerber, Tamara Annina; Hvidberg, Christine Schøtt; Rasmussen, Sune Olander; Franke, Steven; Sinnl, Giulia; Grinsted, Aslak; Jansen, Daniela; Dahl-Jensen, Dorthe (2021): Upstream flow effects revealed in the EastGRIP ice core using Monte Carlo inversion of a two-dimensional ice-flow model. The Cryosphere, 15(8), 3655-3679, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3655-2021
Gerber, Tamara Annina; Lilien, David A; Rathmann, Nicholas Mossor; Franke, Steven; Young, Tun Jan; Valero-Delgado, Fernando; Ershadi, M Reza; Drews, Reinhard; Zeising, Ole; Humbert, Angelika; Stoll, Nicolas; Weikusat, Ilka; Grinsted, Aslak; Hvidberg, Christine Schøtt; Jansen, Daniela; Miller, Heinrich; Helm, Veit; Steinhage, Daniel; O'Neill, Charles; Paden, John D; Gogineni, Siva Prasad; Dahl-Jensen, Dorthe; Eisen, Olaf (2023): Crystal orientation fabric anisotropy causes directional hardening of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream. Nature Communications, 14(1), 2653, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38139-8
Jansen, Daniela; Franke, Steven; Bauer, Catherine C; Binder, Tobias; Dahl-Jensen, Dorthe; Eichler, Jan; Eisen, Olaf; Hu, Yuanbang; Kerch, Johanna; Llorens, Maria-Gema; Miller, Heinrich; Neckel, Niklas; Paden, John D; de Riese, Tamara; Sachau, Till; Stoll, Nicolas; Weikusat, Ilka; Wilhelms, Frank; Zhang, Yu; Bons, Paul D (2024): Shear margins in upper half of Northeast Greenland Ice Stream were established two millennia ago. Nature Communications, 15(1), 1193, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45021-8
Mojtabavi, Seyedhamidreza; Eisen, Olaf; Franke, Steven; Jansen, Daniela; Steinhage, Daniel; Paden, John D; Dahl-Jensen, Dorthe; Weikusat, Ilka; Eichler, Jan; Wilhelms, Frank (2022): Origin of englacial stratigraphy at three deep ice core sites of the Greenland Ice Sheet by synthetic radar modelling. Journal of Glaciology, 1-13, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.137
Zhang, Yu; Sachau, Till; Franke, Steven; Yang, Haibin; Li, Dian; Weikusat, Ilka; Bons, Paul D (2024): Formation Mechanisms of Large-Scale Folding in Greenland's Ice Sheet. Geophysical Research Letters, 51(16), e2024GL109492, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL109492
Project(s):
East Greenland Ice-core Project (EGRIP)
Funding:
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven (AWI), grant/award no. AWI_PA_02097: P6-211_EGRIP-NOR_2018
Coverage:
Median Latitude: 75.882215 * Median Longitude: -35.185755 * South-bound Latitude: 75.633181 * West-bound Longitude: -35.992643 * North-bound Latitude: 81.596510 * East-bound Longitude: -16.662259
Date/Time Start: 2018-05-08T10:37:54 * Date/Time End: 2018-05-17T14:53:43
Event(s):
P6_211_EGRIP_NOR_2018_1805081501 * Latitude Start: 81.596510 * Longitude Start: -16.662259 * Latitude End: 75.637317 * Longitude End: -35.986553 * Date/Time Start: 2018-05-08T10:37:54 * Date/Time End: 2018-05-08T14:06:49 * Location: Greenland * Campaign: P6-211_EGRIP_NOR_2018 (EGRIP-NOR) * Basis: POLAR 6 * Method/Device: Aircraft (AC)
P6_211_EGRIP_NOR_2018_1805081602 * Latitude Start: 75.633181 * Longitude Start: -35.992537 * Latitude End: 75.636544 * Longitude End: -35.988761 * Date/Time Start: 2018-05-08T18:05:26 * Date/Time End: 2018-05-08T20:35:26 * Location: Greenland * Campaign: P6-211_EGRIP_NOR_2018 (EGRIP-NOR) * Basis: POLAR 6 * Method/Device: Aircraft (AC)
P6_211_EGRIP_NOR_2018_1805091701 * Latitude Start: 75.633181 * Longitude Start: -35.992517 * Latitude End: 75.633399 * Longitude End: -35.991265 * Date/Time Start: 2018-05-09T11:39:41 * Date/Time End: 2018-05-09T15:46:25 * Location: Greenland * Campaign: P6-211_EGRIP_NOR_2018 (EGRIP-NOR) * Basis: POLAR 6 * Method/Device: Aircraft (AC)
Comment:
Project: EGRIP-NOR-2018 (Characterisation of the NEGIS Onset region with Radar around EastGRIP)
Region: Onset region of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS), Greenland
Owner / PI: Olaf Eisen (olaf.eisen@awi.de)
Email address of the provider:
daniel.steinhage@awi.de
veit.helm@awi.de
Instrument used: AWI UWB (MCoRDS 5)
Data products: CSARP_standard (SAR focussed), CSARP_qlook (unfocussed)
Data product documentation: https://data.cresis.ku.edu/data/rds/rds_readme.pdf
Method of navigation : GPS data was acquired by four NovAtel DL-V3 GPS receivers operating at 20Hz
--
The netCDF files contain the following variables:
altitude: Platform altitude (WGS84) in meters
bed_elevation: Bed elevation for each trace (without applying a firn correction and permitivity of ice: 3.15) in meters
bed_pick: picked Bed location for each trace, expressed as twt in seconds from time zero
data: Radar data (Values in dBm after DC conversion)
data_agc: Scaled radar data using automatic gain control (AGC)
distance: Along-track distance in meters
ice_thickness: Ice thickness for each trace (without applying a firn correction and permitivity of ice: 3.15) in meters
lat: Latitude in decimal degrees (WGS84)
lon: Longitude in decimal degrees (WGS84)
range: Range between sensor and surface in meters
spacing: Along-track trace to trace spacing in meters
surface: Surface elevation derived from radar (WGS84) in meters
surface_pick: Picked surface reflection in two-way travel time in seconds
time: Seconds of day
twt: Two-way travel time (twt) in seconds
--
Note that the surface picks were quality-checked for the standard product. For the qlook product only an auto-tracked surface pick is available.
Parameter(s):
| # | Name | Short Name | Unit | Principal Investigator | Method/Device | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Season | Season | Franke, Steven | |||
| 2 | Event label | Event | Franke, Steven | |||
| 3 | Profile ID | Profile ID | Franke, Steven | |||
| 4 | Instrument | Instrument | Franke, Steven | |||
| 5 | Radar product | Radar prod | Franke, Steven | |||
| 6 | netCDF file | netCDF | Franke, Steven | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | standard | |
| 7 | netCDF file (File Size) | netCDF (Size) | Bytes | Franke, Steven | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | standard |
| 8 | netCDF file | netCDF | Franke, Steven | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | qlook | |
| 9 | GIS file | GIS | Franke, Steven | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | KML Files, standard | |
| 10 | GIS file | GIS | Franke, Steven | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | KML Files, qlook | |
| 11 | Image | IMAGE | Franke, Steven | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | Quicklook, standard | |
| 12 | Image | IMAGE | Franke, Steven | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | Quicklook, qlook |
Change history:
2025-06-18T09:08:47 – New updated version of dataset doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.928569
License:
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0)
Status:
Curation Level: Enhanced curation (CurationLevelC)
Size:
1767 data points