Spatial and temporal variability of snow accumulation using ground-penetrating radar and ice cores on a Svalbard glacier

A 50 MHz ground-penetrating radar was used to detect horizontal layers in the snowpack along a longitudinal profile on Nordenskjöldbreen, a Svalbard glacier. The profile passed two shallow and one deep ice-core sites. Two internal radar reflection layers were dated using parameters measured in the deep core. Radar travel times were converted to water equivalent, yielding snow-accumulation rates along the profile for three time periods: 1986–99, 1963–99 and 1963–86. The results show 40–60% spatial variability in snow accumulation over short distances along the profile. The average annual accumulation rate for 1986–99 was found to be about 12% higher than for the period 1963–86, which indicates increased accumulation in the late 1980s and 1990s.