Simulations of Englacial Radiostratigraphy from ICE Core Measurements

Englacial layering is a ubiquitous feature of ice penetrating radar images of continental ice sheets. These reflections occur at subsurface interfaces of changing density, conductivity, or crystal orientation fabric and can record the past atmospheric conditions and flow history of a region. As a result, both the physical cause of this layering and its geometry are of scientific interest. We develop a method for simulating englacial radio stratigraphy using measurements of density and conductivity from deep ice cores and show that it can reproduce coincident radar measurements. We then extend this method to two dimensions to simulate physically realistic synthetic radargrams. Our model incorporates both geophysical parameters and radar system parameters including center frequency, bandwidth, impulse response, aircraft attitude, and post-processing. As a result, our model can be used to generate labeled training data for machine learning layer tracking algorithms, connect layers observed by different radar systems to ice core stratigraphy, or as a forward model for testing hypotheses for the formation and evolution of the geometric and chemical properties of englacial layers away from deep drilling sites.