On Thursday, we saw that the 1,000MHz signal did not seem to give as accurate results in the ice/water boundary as the 500MHz did. We put the Thermicrons out for two sets of temprature data. One on Thursday and one on Friday.
Thursday, we managed to get most tasks done around a big gap of the day where we were suspended off the ice due to polar bears having wandered far inland. It took the townsfolk all day to watch the bears travel back up North a safe distance. We got some OhmMapper data using a different technique than usual, a dipole-dipole expanding array. It takes a vertical sweep of the ground instead of its usual horizontal sweep and map of the subsurface. We then drilled into the ice in order to compare the data. Our hopes are to graph the resistivity data and find a break in the line that will represent the ice/water boundary.
We did this Thursday and found promising results so we decided to try again Friday. It seems to be holding consistent and giving us measurements of the thickness of about .95m compared to the ice drill data that showed .93 meter thickness. This is looking up!
Friday, we did a 900 meter run out onto the ice during the time satellites went over to get the same data so we can ground truth for them. We took the GPR and the microclimate sensor sled as well as one sled that only took surface temperature data.
The data seems to be holding up the possible correlation of the surface temperature of the ice and its thickness. We are still in the preliminary stages of processing data, however.
We presented our preliminary findings at the local library for a few locals and local scientists. I think it went well! It will be good practice for the Student Engagement Forum at the university in April. I am excited to get to work and get a better sense of what all of this data is telling us!
JORDAN L. EAGLE 