Humbert, Angelika; Binder, Tobias; Steinhage, Daniel; Helm, Veit (2026): ARK 2018: AWI airborne ultra-wideband radar data at and upstream of 79°N Glacier, northeast Greenland Ice Sheet (RESURV 79 Project) [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.988413
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Published: 2026-02-25 • DOI registered: 2026-02-25
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 profiles extend across the Northeast Greenland Ice Sheet at and upstream of the 79°N Glacier (Nioghalvfjerdsbræ). 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
Franke, Steven; Steinhage, Daniel; Helm, Veit; Binder, Tobias; Nixdorf, Uwe; Miller, Heinrich; Humbert, Angelika; Jansen, Daniela; Eagles, Graeme; Eisermann, Hannes; Jokat, Wilfried; Ruppel, Antonia; Drews, Reinhard; Zuhr, Alexandra; Driemel, Amelie; Walter, Andreas; Konopatzky, Peter; Heß, Robin; Haas, Antonie; Koppe, Roland; Andreas, Pascal H; Eisen, Olaf (2026): Review article: 30 years of airborne radar surveys on the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets by the Alfred Wegener Institute. The Cryosphere, 20(4), 2485-2530, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-2485-2026
Zeising, Ole; Neckel, Niklas; Dörr, Nils; Helm, Veit; Steinhage, Daniel; Timmermann, Ralph; Humbert, Angelika (2024): Extreme melting at Greenland's largest floating ice tongue. The Cryosphere, 18, 1333-1357, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1333-2024
Additional metadata:
O2A Registry: Metadata for radar system Ultra-wideband ice radar at current Version. Alfred Wegener Institut Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, https://registry.o2a-data.de/items/6809
Funding:
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven (AWI), grant/award no. AWI_PA_02095: P6-211_RESURV79_2018
Coverage:
Median Latitude: 81.596506 * Median Longitude: -16.663084 * South-bound Latitude: 81.596000 * West-bound Longitude: -16.665768 * North-bound Latitude: 81.596813 * East-bound Longitude: -16.659000
Date/Time Start: 2018-04-11T09:46:42 * Date/Time End: 2018-04-27T00:00:01
Event(s):
P6_211_RESURV79_2018_1804110401 * Latitude Start: 81.596787 * Longitude Start: -16.665534 * Latitude End: 81.596201 * Longitude End: -16.659202 * Date/Time Start: 2018-04-11T09:46:42 * Date/Time End: 2018-04-11T15:08:39 * Location: North Greenland Sea * Campaign: P6-211_RESURV79_2018 (RESURV79, FINEGIS) * Basis: POLAR 6 * Method/Device: Aircraft (AC)
P6_211_RESURV79_2018_1804130501 * Latitude Start: 81.596784 * Longitude Start: -16.665323 * Latitude End: 81.596785 * Longitude End: -16.665639 * Date/Time Start: 2018-04-13T09:45:34 * Date/Time End: 2018-04-13T14:31:31 * Location: North Greenland Sea * Campaign: P6-211_RESURV79_2018 (RESURV79, FINEGIS) * Basis: POLAR 6 * Method/Device: Aircraft (AC)
P6_211_RESURV79_2018_1804140601 * Latitude Start: 81.596813 * Longitude Start: -16.665481 * Latitude End: 81.596238 * Longitude End: -16.659258 * Date/Time Start: 2018-04-14T09:39:18 * Date/Time End: 2018-04-14T15:05:16 * Location: North Greenland Sea * Campaign: P6-211_RESURV79_2018 (RESURV79, FINEGIS) * Basis: POLAR 6 * Method/Device: Aircraft (AC)
Comment:
Project: RESURV 79 (Re-survey of the 79° Glacier (2018))
Region: Downstream and upstream region of the 79° N Glacier catchment
Owner / PI: Angelika Humbert (angelika.humbert@awi.de)
Email address of the provider:
angelika.humbert@awi.de
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
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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
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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 | Humbert, Angelika | |||
| 2 | Event label | Event | Humbert, Angelika | |||
| 3 | Profile ID | Profile ID | Humbert, Angelika | |||
| 4 | Instrument | Instrument | Humbert, Angelika | |||
| 5 | Radar product | Radar prod | Humbert, Angelika | |||
| 6 | netCDF file | netCDF | Humbert, Angelika | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | standard | |
| 7 | netCDF file (File Size) | netCDF (Size) | Bytes | Humbert, Angelika | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | standard |
| 8 | netCDF file | netCDF | Humbert, Angelika | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | qlook | |
| 9 | GIS file | GIS | Humbert, Angelika | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | KML Files, standard | |
| 10 | GIS file | GIS | Humbert, Angelika | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | KML Files, qlook | |
| 11 | Image | IMAGE | Humbert, Angelika | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | Quicklook, standard | |
| 12 | Image | IMAGE | Humbert, Angelika | Ultra-wideband radar (UWB), MCoRDS 5 | Quicklook, qlook |
License:
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0)
Status:
Curation Level: Enhanced curation (CurationLevelC)
Size:
2140 data points
Data
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