Comparison of modelled and observed responses of a glacier snowpack to ground-penetrating radar

The upper 10 in of the firn of a Svalbard glacier is imaged along the centre line using a 500 MHz ground-penetrating radar, and a 10 in firn core taken along the profile. Complex reflection coefficients are calculated from the high-resolution capacitance and conductance measurements made on the snow core. The reflection cocfficient depth series is converted to the time domain and convolved with model radar monopulses to synthesize traces that compare well with radar traces recorded near the ice core. Differences are probably due to cm-scale physical and chemical inhomogeneities that are smoothed when imaged by the radar beam, which integrates information over areas that are of the same order of magnitude as the depth to the layer.