Articles | Volume 12, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2099-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2099-2018
Research article
 | 
19 Jun 2018
Research article |  | 19 Jun 2018

Autonomous ice sheet surface mass balance measurements from cosmic rays

Ian M. Howat, Santiago de la Peña, Darin Desilets, and Gary Womack

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Cited articles

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Short summary
In this paper we present the first application of cosmic ray neutron sensing for continuously measuring in situ accumulation on an ice sheet. We validate these results with manual snow coring and snow stake measurements, showing that the cosmic ray observations are of similar if not better accuracy. We also present our observations of variability in accumulation over 24 months at Summit Camp, Greenland. We conclude that cosmic ray sensing has a high potential for measuring surface mass balance.