UTIG Airborne Geophysical Platform
Background:
UTIG's
aerogeophysical program began in 1991 with a project to develop the
first integrated airborne platform to simultaneously address problems
in glaciology and subglacial geology. This initial research grant (CASERTZ)
targeted understanding the influence of underlying geology on the location
and evolution of the West Antarctic ice streams. Following the success
of that initial 50,000 line-kilometer survey, UTIG was asked by the
National Science Foundation to operate a facility (the Support Office
for Aerogrophysical Research; SOAR)
for conducting all U.S. aerogeophysics in Antarctica. In seven successive
field campagins, from 1994 until 2002, SOAR acquired and reduced 210,000
line-kilometers of aerogeophysical data from 425 research flights. These
flights supported 10 research projects with 20 investigators at 14 U.S.
institutions. Approximately 130,000 line-kilometers of these data were
collected for research projects carried out by UTIG scientists in both
East and West Antarctica.