Anisotropic scattering in radio-echo sounding: insights from northeast Greenland

Gerber, Tamara Annina; Lilien, David A.; Nymand, Niels F.; Steinhage, Daniel; Eisen, Olaf; Dahl-Jensen, Dorthe

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1955-2025

Articles | Volume 19, issue 5

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1955-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1955-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 5

Research article

|

26 May 2025

Research article |

| 26 May 2025

Anisotropic scattering in radio-echo sounding: insights from northeast Greenland

Tamara Annina Gerber, David A. Lilien, Niels F. Nymand, Daniel Steinhage, Olaf Eisen, and Dorthe Dahl-Jensen

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1955-2025-supplement

Data sets

Anisotropic Scattering in Radio-Echo Sounding: Insights from Northeast Greenland - Data Tamara Gerber https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14631015

Doble reflection data at the North East Greenland Ice Stream N. F. Nymand and D. Dahl-Jensen https://doi.org/10.17894/UCPH.89B622D6-F62F-43D5-B754-7A40748120B1

Model code and software

anisotropicScattering-code Tamara Gerber https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14823653

Short summary

This study examines how anisotropic scattering and birefringence affect radar signals in ice sheets. Using data from northeast Greenland, we show that anisotropic scattering – driven by subtle ice crystal orientation changes – dominates the azimuthal power response. We find a strong link between scattering strength, orientation, and stratigraphy. This suggests anisotropic scattering can reveal crystal fabric orientation and differentiate ice units from distinct climatic periods.