Science and exploration in the high interior of East Antarctica in the twentieth century

The highest part of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, more than 4000 m above sea level, has been an area that has seen a considerable scientific research effort undertaken by the Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition, and its international collaborators, since January 2005. That includes the establishment of the most remote of the Chinese Antarctic stations, Kunlun, at Dome A in 2009. However, the exploration and mapping of this region had been commenced many decades earlier, most notably by inland traverses of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the 1957–1958 International Geophysical Year (IGY) and later; and the extensive surveys of Antarctic surface and sub-ice topography by airborne radio-echo sounding made by the US National Science Foundation–Scott Polar Research Institute–Technical University of Denmark (NSF-SPRI-TUD) in the late-1960s and the 1970s. Here we provide a history of the activities and achievements of these earlier programs. Recent topographic maps of the ice sheet surface in the Dome A region, produced using Chinese GPS data and satellite altimetry, have shown the maps compiled from the earlier data were remarkably accurate

Chinese radioglaciological studies on the Antarctic ice sheet: progress and prospects

Chinese radioglaciological studies on the Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) began in 2004/05 when the 21st Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE 21) team arrived at Dome A for the first time and radio echo sounding (RES) was conducted along the inland traverse and in the Dome A region. Subsequently, more field surveys were conducted along the traverse and in the Dome A region using different radar systems targeting different scientific purposes, such as revealing the landscape of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains by detailed grid RES, or locating a deep ice core drilling site by mapping and studying internal structures, bedrock topography and subglacial conditions in the Dome A region. Furthermore, the evolution of the AIS was inferred from the typical mountain glaciation topography beneath Dome A, and the age of the deep ice core at Kunlun Station was estimated through numerical modeling. Recently, the Snow Eagle 601 airplane was acquired and an airborne geophysical system was constructed to survey the AIS in Princess Elizabeth Land during CHINARE 32 (2015/16) and CHINARE 33 (2016/17) in order to fill the large data gap there. In this paper, we review both the recent progress of Chinese radioglaciological science in Antarctica and future proposed work

Шесть десятилетий радиолокационных и сейсмических исследований в Антарктиде

Antarctica was discovered by the First Russian Antarctic expedition in 1820. Subsequent studies were mainly descriptive in nature, and measurements were few in number. Only from the end of the 19th century systematic scientific observations were started in Antarctica. The first stage of studying the continent was completed in the middle of the 20th century, when the coastline was completely mapped and inland studies were carried on. The First International Geophysical Year (1957–1958) marked the beginning of systematic geophysical researches in Antarctica. Russia (USSR) took an active part in the work, opening Mirny and Pionerskaya stations in 1956. At the same time, seismic sounding, first conducted by the R. Byrd's expedition in 1933–1935, began to be carried out in Antarctica. In the first two decades after the International Geophysical Year, international scientific communities carried out the first comprehensive multidisciplinary research; a network of permanent year-round scientific stations was created, and a new method of radar sounding was introduced into the practice of work. The results of this stage are presented in the two-volume Atlas of Antarctica, published in the USSR. In the 1970s and 90s, most of the continent was covered by complex airborne geophysical surveys. The huge amount of accumulated data has been combined for generalization them into a single database within the framework of the International Bedmap project. Recent studies are mainly focused in unexplored areas of Antarctica, which by now are actually absent. Further accumulation of data promoted the two subsequent generations of the Bedmap project - Bedmap2 and Bedmap3. The use of GPR methods since the late 1990s has allowed us to study the structure of the snow-firn thickness at a new scientific and technical level, as well as to perform important engineering surveys aimed at ensuring the safety of transport operations in Antarctica. Currently, Russian research is focused on the study of the subglacial Lake Vostok and airborne geophysical works in the sector of 60°–100° E.Представлен обзор отечественных и зарубежных радиолокационных, георадарных и сейсмических исследований в Антарктиде за период с середины XX в. по настоящее время. В работу включён небольшой обзор более ранних экспедиционных работ. Отдельно рассматриваются вопросы исследований подледникового озера Восток и операции «Эймери». Приводятся схемы изученности, даётся характеристика сейсмической и радиолокационной аппаратуры, а также геодезических приборов, используемых для планово-высотной привязки отечественных работ

A 60-year international history of Antarctic subglacial lake exploration

In January 2013, the US WISSARD programme measured and sampled Lake Whillans, a subglacial water body at the edge of West Antarctica, in a clean and environmentally sensitive manner, proving the existence of microbial life beneath this part of the ice sheet. The success of WISSARD represented ben chmark in the exploration of Antarctica, made possible by a rich and diverse history of events, discoveries and discussions over the past 60 years ; ranging from geophysical measurement of subglacial lakes, to the development of scientific hypotheses concer ning these environments and the engineering solutions required to test them . In this article, I provide a personal account of this history, from the published literature and my own involvement in subglacial lake exploration over the last 20 years. I show t hat our ability to directly measure and sample subglacial water bodies in Antarctica has been made possible by a strong theme of international collaboration, at odds with the media representation of a scientific ‘race’ between nations. I also consider plan s for subglacial lake exploration and discuss how such collaboration is likely to be key to success of future research in this field

Open access data in polar and cryospheric remote sensing

This paper aims to introduce the main types and sources of remotely sensed data that are freely available and have cryospheric applications. We describe aerial and satellite photography, satellite-borne visible, near-infrared and thermal infrared sensors, synthetic aperture radar, passive microwave imagers and active microwave scatterometers. We consider the availability and practical utility of archival data, dating back in some cases to the 1920s for aerial photography and the 1960s for satellite imagery, the data that are being collected today and the prospects for future data collection; in all cases, with a focus on data that are openly accessible. Derived data products are increasingly available, and we give examples of such products of particular value in polar and cryospheric research. We also discuss the availability and applicability of free and, where possible, open-source software tools for reading and processing remotely sensed data. The paper concludes with a discussion of open data access within polar and cryospheric sciences, considering trends in data discoverability, access, sharing and use.A. Pope would like to acknowledge support from the Earth Observation Technology Cluster, a knowledge exchange project, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) under its Technology Clusters Programme, the U.S. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, Trinity College (Cambridge) and the Dartmouth Visiting Young Scientist program sponsored by the NASA New Hampshire Space Grant.This is the final published version. It's also available from MDPI at http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/6/7/6183

UAVs for Science in Antarctica

Remote sensing is a very powerful tool that has been used to identify, map and monitor Antarctic features and processes for nearly one century. Satellite remote sensing plays the main role for about the last five decades, as it is the only way to provide multitemporal views at continental scale. But the emergence of small consumer-grade unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs) over the past two decades has paved the way for data in unprecedented detail. This has been also verified by an increasing noticeable interest in Antarctica by the incorporation of UAVs in the field activities in diversified research topics. This paper presents a comprehensive review about the use of UAVs in scientific activities in Antarctica. It is based on the analysis of 190 scientific publications published in peer-reviewed journals and proceedings of conferences which are organised into six main application topics: Terrestrial, Ice and Snow, Fauna, Technology, Atmosphere and Others. The analysis encompasses a detailed overview of the activities, identifying advantages and difficulties, also evaluating future possibilities and challenges for expanding the use of UAV in the field activities. The relevance of using UAVs to support numerous and diverse scientific activities in Antarctica becomes very clear after analysing this set of scientific publications, as it is revolutionising the remote acquisition of new data with much higher detail, from inaccessible or difficult to access regions, in faster and cheaper ways. Many of the advances can be seen in the terrestrial areas (detailed 3D mapping; vegetation mapping, discrimination and health assessment; periglacial forms characterisation), ice and snow (more detailed topography, depth and features of ice-sheets, glaciers and sea-ice), fauna (counting penguins, seals and flying birds and detailed morphometrics) and in atmosphere studies (more detailed meteorological measurements and air-surface couplings). This review has also shown that despite the low environmental impact of UAV-based surveys, the increasing number of applications and use, may lead to impacts in the most sensitive Antarctic ecosystems. Hence, we call for an internationally coordinated effort to for planning and sharing UAV data in Antarctica, which would reduce environmental impacts, while extending research outcomes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Some aspects of Chinese-Australian cooperation in Antarctic Research over the past forty years

China and Australia have been collaborating in Antarctic activities since the early 1980s and that collaboration has grown and become more formalized as China’s Antarctic program has expanded. This collaboration has involved personnel exchange, logistic support, environmental protection and particularly scientific research. China and Australia have signed a series of memorandums and treaties of friendship and cooperation on Antarctic activities in the past few years. Relevant mechanisms of cooperation between expedition plans and programs have been established, and the exchange and cooperation in people, science and technology, services, and supplies are undertaken across a range of organizations. Here we overview the history of the bilateral collaboration and provide a few examples of the many areas of cooperation. These examples are focused on activities in Hobart, the key centre of the Australian Antarctic program

Determination of grounding line on the Amery Ice Shelf using Sentinel-1 radar interferometry data

Delineation of the grounding line (GL) is necessary for calculating the mass balance of Antarctica, but GL measurements for most of the continent remain at a relatively coarse level. We used Sentinel-1 constellation data to map the GL of the Amery Ice Shelf (AIS) using double-differential synthetic aperture radar interferometry. The ice thickness anomaly deduced from hydrostatic equilibrium and existing Antarctic GL products is compared with our result. With this new and very accurate GL, we detected new ice rises in the north of the AIS. Our new measurement shows no major change of the AIS GL, particularly in the southernmost part

Meteorological observations and weather forecasting services of the CHINARE

By 2018, China had conducted 34 scientific explorations in Antarctica spearheaded by the Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE). Since the first CHINARE over 30 years ago, considerable work has been undertaken to promote the development of techniques for the observation of surface and upper-air meteorological elements, and satellite image and data reception systems at Chinese Antarctic stations and onboard Chinese icebreakers have played critical roles in this endeavor. The upgrade of in situ and remote sensing measurement methods and the improvement of weather forecasting skill have enabled forecasters to achieve reliable on-site weather forecasting for the CHINARE. Nowadays, the routing of icebreakers, navigation of aircraft, and activities at Chinese Antarctic stations all benefit from the accurate weather forecasting service. In this paper, a review of the conventional meteorological measurement and operational weather forecasting services of the CHINARE is presented