ICEGIANT deployed GNSS and seismic stations in the David-Drygalski glacier system to monitor ice motion, seismicity, and ice-bedrock interaction.
During the Antarctic expedition, the ICEGIANT team carried out a field campaign aimed at installing an integrated network of geodetic and geophysical sensors in the David-Drygalski glacial system.
A total of 12 GNSS stations were installed across the David Cauldron icefall and the Drygalski Ice Tongue. The stations were designed to acquire high-precision data on the three-dimensional motion of the glacier surface, providing time series for the study of ice-flow velocity and its temporal variations.
In addition, 3 broadband seismic stations were installed on rocky outcrops surrounding the main glacier flow. These stations record seismic signals associated with ice dynamics, possible basal seismicity and processes related to ice-bedrock interaction.
At the end of the expedition, 4 GNSS stations were left in the field to continue data acquisition beyond the period of field operations. These stations will be recovered during the next expedition, together with the broadband seismic stations.
The data collected during the campaign are now being checked, processed and analysed.
GPS (now GNSS) monitoring of the Drygalski Ice Tongue began in the 1990s.
A standalone GNSS station currently installed on a glacier surface, consisting of a GNSS antenna mounted on an aluminum pole anchored in the ice, a cylindrical solar panel, and a battery and receiver housed in a watertight enclosure. The system was designed to ensure mechanical stability and minimize the impact of strong katabatic winds on the installation.
Crevassed surface due to high ice flow velocities and the change in elevation.
Strong katabatic wind driving the pack ice offshore, forming a polynya.
