Ice Surface and Bed Roughness Estimation of Petermann Glacier

Understanding the subglacial conditions is crucial in determining the ice dynamics and predicting the stability of ice sheets. Radio echo sounding (RES) surveys have been extensively carried out to map the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica. Using RES data, basal conditions of ice sheets can be determined from estimated reflectivity that is affected by ice surface and bed roughness. Roughness is also one of the important parameters to explain ice dynamics. In this paper the ice surface and bed roughness of Petermann Glacier, one of the largest outlet glacier of Greenland, is estimated with the Multi-Channel Coherent Radar Depth Sounder (MCoRDS) data by fitting the echo amplitude distribution to statistical models. The roughness derived from MCoRDS data is compared and verified with the roughness estimations from Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM) and Ku-band altimeter measurements. It has been observed that Petermann glacier has rougher ice inland and a smoother bed towards the trunk of the glacier.