Separated Thinned Array for Sensing of Ice Sheets (STASIS)

The key objective of the Separated Thinned Array for Sensing of Ice Sheets (STASIS) concept study is to demonstrate feasibility of a constellation microwave interferometer approach to derive high resolution 3D maps of ice sheet temperature. Ice sheet temperature with depth is a fundamental parameter for ice process models and important to studies of ice mass balance and rheology. Accurate measurements of ice sheet temperature can benefit efforts to predict changes in ice mass balance and sea level over time, a high priority for NASA. However, only limited observations of these parameters exist due to the practical difficulty of in situ sampling. Passive microwave instruments are uniquely sensitive to thermal emission from deep within ice sheets. Observations at these wavelengths require up to 10-100m diameter antenna apertures to resolve variations in subsurface properties at 10km resolution, which is impractical for a real-aperture system. Interferometric aperture synthesis, or the correlation of measured intensity from several independent radiometer instruments, within a satellite constellation could be used to obtain high spatial resolution measurements of ice sheet state while bypassing the challenges associated with a single, large antenna. We propose a ICD modeling and feasibility study of disconnected interferometric radiometric techniques for long-wavelength remote sensing of polar ice sheets. In this concept, signals from 2 or more small satellites with broadband antennas are correlated to form interferometric baselines. Given a relatively time invariant target like the deep ice temperature of Antarctica, the complete set of interferometric baselines can be measured over many weeks to months, making a distributed array formation a feasible solution. We will develop a simulation to generate synthetic interferometric images of polar ice structure for a given constellation geometry and instrument design. This simulation will then be used to 1) parameterize the relationship between constellation design and the spatial/temporal resolution for ice sheet observations; 2) assess the contribution of systematic uncertainties to the absolute accuracy and precision of the derived polar images; and 3) study mission systems engineering trades. The measurement method discussed above represents an order of magnitude improvement in the spatial resolution of long wavelength passive remote sensing of the Antarctica ice sheet. The emergence of small satellites and low-cost ride-share options to space make this approach an attractive alternative to a 10-100m deployable real-aperture that would otherwise be needed. Measurements of deep ice sheet thermal structure at this enhanced spatial resolution would significantly improve estimates of geophysical parameters relevant to ice sheet modeling (e.g. deformation/sliding contributions to ice flow, geothermal heat flux). The proposed concept has the potential to provide a novel data product that will significantly improve the predictive power of ice sheet modeling by reducing uncertainties in ice flow parameterizations and is therefore relevant to the NASA Earth Science Focus Area of Climate Variability and Change. The duration of the proposed study is 18 months, and the entry and exit TRL of the concept are TRL 1 and TRL 2, respectively

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