Full Record - Radar investigation of two subglacial lake drainage sites at Isunnguata Sermia, West Greenland, 2024

Radar investigation of two subglacial lake drainage sites at Isunnguata Sermia, West Greenland, 2024

GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/02182

Abstract:
The ice-penetrating radar data were acquired over two ice surface elevation anomalies on Isunnguata Sermia, West Greenland. The elevation anomalies are inferred to result from the drainage of active subglacial lakes. The radar data were acquired between 2024-09-26 and 2024-10-04 using a Blue Systems Integration IceRadar with 10 MHz antennas and a Nugen Narod transmitter, with a pulse repetition frequency of 10 MHz. A total of 26.5 km of survey transects were recorded and a basal interface was picked at 5 m intervals using a semi-automated method across 91% of the full survey. Ice thicknesses of greater than 500 m, to the north of the elevation anomalies, showed a reduced signal to noise ratio and therefore confidence in these picks is lower than in shallower ice. Reflected power is extracted from each bed picks and used to estimate the reflection coefficient. Ice thickness picks were combined with an ArcticDEM surface elevation model (2024-07-27) to generate an interpolated bed elevation dataset on a 20 m grid. Hydraulic potential surfaces, accumulation patterns and minima using the ice thickness and bed elevation datasets are calculated for a range of subglacial pressure values inferred from observations with an englacial pressure sensor.
An additional reconnaissance dataset was acquired between 2023-04-17 and 2023-04-24 using the same radar system with 5 MHz antennas. A total of 7.9 km of survey transects were recorded and raw data are included for completeness.
The radar data were acquired to image and characterise the setting of an active subglacial lake, as part of the NERC-funded SLIDE (Subglacial Lakes at Isunnguata Sermia - Dynamics and Evolution) research project.

The SLIDE project is funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council Standard Grant NE/X000257/1. JDH and LC were supported by a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (to Michael Prior-Jones, MR/V022237/1). We acknowledge the support of Kangerlussuaq International Science Support and the local knowledge and guidance of Chris Sorensen.

Citation:
Hawkins, J., Peacey, M., Killingbeck, S., Ross, N., Livingstone, S., Le Bris, T., Barruol, G., Young, T., Sole, A., Doyle, S., Craw, L., Thorpe, S., Veness, R., Booth, A., Bagshaw, E., Buzzard, S., Edwards, L., Storrar, R., & Prior-Jones, M. (2026). Radar investigation of two subglacial lake drainage sites at Isunnguata Sermia, West Greenland, 2024 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/b90093f6-2431-42f3-a6d8-7365f368e188

Access Data

GET DATA:

http://ramadda.data.bas.ac.uk/repository/entry/show?entryid=b90093f6-2431-42f3-a6d8-7365f368e188

License

Access:	No restrictions apply.
Use:	Data supplied under Open Government Licence v3.0 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/.

Authors

Name	UK PDC
Role(s)	Metadata Author
Organisation	British Antarctic Survey

Name	Jonathan Hawkins
Role(s)	Investigator, Technical Contact
Organisation	Cardiff University

Name	Matthew W Peacey
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	Aberystwyth University

Name	Siobhan Killingbeck
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	Swansea University

Name	Neil Ross
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	Newcastle University

Name	Stephen J Livingstone
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	University of Sheffield

Name	Tifenn Le Bris
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	Grenoble Alpes University

Name	Guilhem Barruol
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	Grenoble Alpes University

Name	TJ Young
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	University of St Andrews

Name	Andrew J Sole
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	University of Sheffield

Name	Sam H Doyle
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	Aberystwyth University

Name	Lisa Craw
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	Cardiff University

Name	Sian Thorpe
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	University of Sheffield

Name	Remy Veness
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	Sheffield Hallam University

Name	Adam Booth
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	University of Leeds

Name	Elizabeth A Bagshaw
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	University of Bristol

Name	Sammie Buzzard
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling

Name	Laura Edwards
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	Liverpool John Moores University

Name	Robert Storrar
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	Sheffield Hallam University

Name	Michael R Prior-Jones
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	Cardiff University

Basic Information

Creation Date:	2026-04-16
Dataset Progress:	Complete
Dataset Language:	English
ISO Topic Categories:	Elevation Inland Waters
Parameters:	Cryosphere > Glaciers/Ice Sheets > Glacier Elevation/Ice Sheet Elevation Cryosphere > Glaciers/Ice Sheets > Glacier Thickness/Ice Sheet Thickness

Additional Information

Reference:	Morlighem, M., Williams, C., Rignot, E., An, L., Arndt, J. E., Bamber, J., Catania, G., Chauché, N., Dowdeswell, J. A., Dorschel, B., Fenty, I., Hogan, K., Howat, I., Hubbard, A., Jakobsson, M., Jordan, T. M., Kjeldsen, K. K., Millan, R., Mayer, L., Mouginot, J., Noël, B., O'Cofaigh, C., Palmer, S. J., Rysgaard, S., Seroussi, H., Siegert, M. J., Slabon, P., Straneo, F., van den Broeke, M. R., Weinrebe, W., Wood, M., & Zinglersen, K. (2025). IceBridge BedMachine Greenland (IDBMG4, Version 6) [Data set]. Boulder, Colorado USA. NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/6B6B225B8V2D [2026-02-01]. Morlighem, M., Williams, C., Rignot, E., An, L., Arndt, J. E., Bamber, J., Catania, G., Chauché, N., Dowdeswell, J. A., Dorschel, B., Fenty, I., Hogan, K., Howat, I., Hubbard, A., Jakobsson, M., Jordan, T. M., Kjeldsen, K. K., Millan, R., Mayer, L., Mouginot, J., Noël, B., O'Cofaigh, C., Palmer, S. J., Rysgaard, S., Seroussi, H., Siegert, M. J., Slabon, P., Straneo, F., van den Broeke, M. R., Weinrebe, W., Wood, M., & Zinglersen, K. (2017). BedMachine v3: Complete bed topography and ocean bathymetry mapping of Greenland from multi-beam echo sounding combined with mass conservation. Geophysical Research Letters, 44. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL074954 Lindbäck, Katrin; Pettersson, Rickard; Doyle, Samuel H; Helanow, Christian; Jansson, Peter; Kristensen, Steen Savstrup; Stenseng, Lars; Forsberg, René; Hubbard, Alun L (2014): High-resolution ice thickness and bed topography of a land-terminating section of the Greenland Ice Sheet, with links to GeoTIFFs and text files [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.830314 Lindbäck, K., Pettersson, R., Doyle, S. H., Helanow, C., Jansson, P., Kristensen, S. S., Stenseng, L., Forsberg, R., and Hubbard, A. L.: High-resolution ice thickness and bed topography of a land-terminating section of the Greenland Ice Sheet, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 6, 331-338, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-6-331-2014, 2014 Porter, Claire, et al., 2022, "ArcticDEM - Strips, Version 4.1", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/C98DVS, Harvard Dataverse, V1, [2026-01-02].
Quality:	Confidence in ice thickness picks is greater within the western half of the dataset (anomaly 1), where the observed ice thicknesses were shallower and signal-to-noise ratio from the bed reflector were higher. In the northeast of the data (anomaly 2) where picked ice thicknesses are greater, the signal-to-noise ratio is lower and confidence in the bed picks is lower. Where transects cross supraglacial streams, the radargram quality is affected by the presence of ringing which masks internal and basal reflections.
Lineage/Methodology:	Radar data was acquired along transects which cover two of the surface elevation anomalies on Isunnguata Sermia. The transects were designed to intersect each other to obtain points for comparison of ice thickness during the picking stage. The realised transects typically followed surface features (meltwater channels or ridges) which allowed for ease of travel on the glacier surface. Where possible, radar transects were obtained on days with lower surface melt to reduce the impact of surface meltwater on collected data. Ice thicknesses were picked using a semi-automated windowed approach where picks from the user are interpolated by tracking the windowed maximum power between adjacent bins. Ice thicknesses were converted to bed elevation by subtracting from the closest contemporaneous ArcticDEM surface elevation model (2024-07-27). Ice thickness and bed elevation products were interpolated onto a 20 m grid which bounds geometry of the radar transects using Ordinary Kriging with a linear kernel. Radar transects, interpolated ice thickness and bed elevation models from the 2024 dataset with the following bounds (EPSG:3413): Polar stereographic easting: -227090 m to -224210 m. Polar stereographic northing: -2494730 m to -2492930 m. Raw radar transects from the 2023 reconnaissance dataset with the following bounds (EPSG:3413): Polar stereographic easting: -225128 m to -220612 m. Polar stereographic northing: -2493998 m to -2493046 m.

PROJECT HOME PAGE:

REFERENCE MATERIALS:

RELATED DATA SET METADATA:

https://doi.org/10.5285/c528fbf7-362a-41f7-a060-6b278e67349b

SOFTWARE PACKAGES:

https://github.com/the-slide-project/radar-impdar/

Extent

Temporal Coverage:
Start Date	2023-04-17
End Date	2023-04-24

Start Date	2024-09-26
End Date	2024-10-04

Spatial Coverage:
Latitude
Southernmost	67.16996
Northernmost	67.19
Longitude
Westernmost	-50.20118
Easternmost	-50.05699
Altitude
Min Altitude	N/A
Max Altitude	N/A
Depth
Min Depth	N/A
Max Depth	N/A

Data Resolution:
Latitude Resolution	N/A
Longitude Resolution	N/A
Horizontal Resolution Range	1 meter - < 30 meters
Vertical Resolution	N/A
Vertical Resolution Range	1 meter - < 10 meters
Temporal Resolution	N/A
Temporal Resolution Range	N/A

Location:
Location	Greenland
Detailed Location	Isunnguata Sermia

Instrumentation

Sensor(s):	RADAR ECHO SOUNDERS
Data Collection:	Blue Systems Integration ice-penetrating radar with 10 MHz antennas and Nugen Narod transmitter with a pulse repetition frequency of 512 Hz.

Storage

Distribution:
Distribution Media	Online Internet (HTTP)
Distribution Size	4 GB
Distribution Format	N/A
Fees	N/A

Discovery Metadata System

BAS Discovery Metadata System