Comment on egusphere-2025-5328

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Authors: Steven Franke, Daniel Steinhage, Veit Helm, Tobias Binder, Uwe Nixdorf, Heinrich Miller, Angelika Humbert, Daniela Jansen, Graeme Eagles, Hannes Eisermann, Wilfried Jokat, Antonia Stefanie Ruppel
+10 more Reinhard Drews, Alexandra M. Zuhr, Amelie Driemel, Andreas Walter, Peter Konopatzky, Robin Heß, Antonie Haas, Roland Koppe, Pascal H. Andreas, Olaf Eisen
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Abstract

Abstract. The Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), has conducted airborne radar campaigns since 1994 across Antarctica and Greenland, utilizing six different radar systems to study ice sheets and their interactions with climate, ocean and the solid Earth. In this review article, we describe AWI's airborne radar systems and their deployments over the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheet. Moreover, we summarize application and usage of AWI radar systems, which provided crucial insights into e.g., ice dynamics, mass balance, and ancient landscapes buried beneath the ice. The integration of radar data with other geophysical methods has enhanced bathymetric models, improving predictions of ice–ocean interactions and ice-shelf stability and contributed to a better understanding of crustal and geological evolution of the Antarctic continent. To support scientific progress, AWI made its airborne radar data publicly accessible through the Radar Data over Polar Ice Sheets viewer hosted by the Marine Data Portal (https://marine-data.de/viewers/) and PANGAEA (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.972094), ensuring compliance with FAIR principles. Future research will expand on these contributions, focusing on refining ice-sheet models and exploring new areas of glaciological and geological interest.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Cryospheric studies and observations Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications and Techniques Polar Research and Ecology

Publication details

Publication date
19 January 2026