Brief communication: Bed mapping of southern Greenland outlet glaciers using helicopter-borne ground penetrating radar (AIRETH)

Santin, Ilaria; Horgan, Huw J.; Moser, Raphael; Bjørnholt Karlsson, Nanna; Nick, Faezeh M.; Vieli, Andreas; Rutishauser, Anja; Maurer, Hansruedi; Farinotti, Daniel

doi:10.5194/tc-20-3435-2026

Articles | Volume 20, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-3435-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-3435-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 6

Brief communication

|

16 Jun 2026

Brief communication |

| 16 Jun 2026

Brief communication: Bed mapping of southern Greenland outlet glaciers using helicopter-borne ground penetrating radar (AIRETH)

Ilaria Santin, Huw J. Horgan, Raphael Moser, Nanna Bjørnholt Karlsson, Faezeh M. Nick, Andreas Vieli, Anja Rutishauser, Hansruedi Maurer, and Daniel Farinotti

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-3435-2026-supplement

Data sets

Ice thickness measurements from Southern Greenland (2025) using helicopter-borne ice-penetrating radar (AIRETH) Ilaria Santin et al. https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-c-000794464

Ground-penetrating radar data from Southern Greenland (2025) acquired using the helicopter-borne AIRETH system Ilaria Santin et al. https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-c-000799347

Short summary

Ice thickness near Greenland’s coast is still poorly measured, yet it is vital for predicting sea level rise. We flew a helicopter ice-penetrating radar over three outlet glaciers in southern Greenland and mapped the glacier bed where basal reflections were clear. We measured ice up to about 340 meters thick, with reliable penetration typically to about 300 meters, providing new constraints that can improve regional bed maps.