Inverting ice dynamics from internal structures

Knowledge of ice-dynamical properties of ice sheets and glaciers are necessary for estimation of their mass balance and expected sea-level rise as well as the climatic interpretation of ice cores.
Continuous mapping of internal structures of ice sheets and glaciers can only be achieved Hz radio-echo sounding.
The observation of isochronous reflectors permits an insight to the temporal evolution of ice masses.

The project presented here aims at the determination of small-scale dynamic properties from the internal structure.
Based on existing radar maps and dated isochrons in the vicinity of ice-core deep drillings in Antarctica, Greenland, and on alpine glaciers, the temporal evolution of a three-dimensional velocity field and the accumulation pattern are deduced.

To this aim a numerical inversion scheme is developed, which takes into account the variation of the flow dynamic with depth.
Different inversion approaches and degrees of assimilation of in-situ data provide insight on the importance of the parameters involved.
In a further step the dynamic and rheologic parameters are directly deduced from the inversion solution.
This process provides a methodological connection between radar data and ice dynamics, which is in particular useful for the validation of satellite data and an improved interpretation of climate proxies from ice-core records.