Articles | Volume 14, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-14-459-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-14-459-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
10 Dec 2025
Research article |
| 10 Dec 2025
| 10 Dec 2025
Ice borehole thermometry: sensor placement using greedy optimal sampling
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany
School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany
Thomas Laepple
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany
MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Nora Hirsch
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany
Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Peter Zaspel
School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany
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Mara Y. McPartland, Thomas Münch, Andrew M. Dolman, Raphaël Hébert, and Thomas Laepple
Clim. Past, 21, 1917–1931, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-1917-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-1917-2025, 2025
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Paleoclimate proxy records contain a combination of climate signals and non-climatic noise. This noise can affect year-to-year variations, or introduce uncertainty on medium and long timescales. Proxies contain different types, or "colors" of noise stemming from the diverse physical and biological processes that go into their creation. We show how non-climatic noise affects tree rings, corals and ice cores. We aim to improve representations of noise in paleoclimate research activities.
Jannis Viola, Lars Woermer, Kai-Uwe Hinrichs, and Thomas Laepple
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5089, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5089, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Climate of the Past (CP).
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This study used mass spectrometry imaging to detect spatial patterns of biomarkers used for sea surface temperature (SST) reconstructions. The observed proxy heterogeneity was bigger than expected within layered marine sediments. The data was used to estimate the climate signal content of individual MSI based reconstructions. The results can be used to inform sampling decisions or to derive uncertainty estimates for high-resolution SST reconstructions and climate variability estimates.
Fyntan Shaw, Thomas Münch, Vasileios Gkinis, and Thomas Laepple
The Cryosphere, 19, 4913–4928, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4913-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4913-2025, 2025
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Diffusion in combination with measurement noise erase high-frequency water isotope variability in ice cores, linking measurement precision to recoverable resolution. We derive expressions for this relationship, finding a resolution improvement of 1.5 times for a 10-fold measurement noise reduction. Based on the current age-depth model, our method predicts 10 000-year cycles will be recoverable in the 1.5 Myr old ice from the Oldest Ice Core δ18O record if a noise level of 0.01 ‰ is achieved.
Laura Schild, Peter Ewald, Chenzhi Li, Raphaël Hébert, Thomas Laepple, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 2007–2033, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-2007-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-2007-2025, 2025
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This study reconstructed vegetation and tree cover in the Northern Hemisphere from a harmonized dataset of pollen counts from sediment and peat cores for the past 14 000 years. A model was applied to correct for differences in pollen production between different plants, and modern remote-sensing forest cover was used to validate the reconstructed tree cover. Accurate data on past vegetation are invaluable for the investigation of vegetation–climate dynamics and the validation of vegetation models.
Rémi Dallmayr, Hannah Meyer, Vasileios Gkinis, Thomas Laepple, Melanie Behrens, Frank Wilhelms, and Maria Hörhold
The Cryosphere, 19, 1067–1083, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1067-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1067-2025, 2025
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Recent studies showed that a large number of independent vertical profiles allow for inferring a common local climate signal from the stacked stable water isotope record. Through investigating instrumental limitation and the effect of percolation of such porous samples, this study assesses the continuous flow analysis (CFA) technique in order to analyze the significant number of snow surface profiles within a reasonable time and with high quality.
Fyntan Shaw, Andrew M. Dolman, Torben Kunz, Vasileios Gkinis, and Thomas Laepple
The Cryosphere, 18, 3685–3698, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3685-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3685-2024, 2024
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Fast variability of water isotopes in ice cores is attenuated by diffusion but can be restored if the diffusion length is accurately estimated. Current estimation methods are inadequate for deep ice, mischaracterising millennial-scale climate variability. We address this using variability estimates from shallower ice. The estimated diffusion length of 31 cm for the bottom of the Dome C ice core is 20 cm less than the old method, enabling signal recovery on timescales previously considered lost.
Alexandra M. Zuhr, Sonja Wahl, Hans Christian Steen-Larsen, Maria Hörhold, Hanno Meyer, Vasileios Gkinis, and Thomas Laepple
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 1861–1874, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1861-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1861-2024, 2024
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We present stable water isotope data from the accumulation zone of the Greenland ice sheet. A spatial sampling scheme covering 39 m and three depth layers was carried out between 14 May and 3 August 2018. The data suggest spatial and temporal variability related to meteorological conditions, such as wind-driven snow redistribution and vapour–snow exchange processes. The data can be used to study the formation of the stable water isotopes signal, which is seen as a climate proxy.
Nora Hirsch, Alexandra Zuhr, Thomas Münch, Maria Hörhold, Johannes Freitag, Remi Dallmayr, and Thomas Laepple
The Cryosphere, 17, 4207–4221, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4207-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4207-2023, 2023
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Stable water isotopes from firn cores provide valuable information on past climates, yet their utility is hampered by stratigraphic noise, i.e. the irregular deposition and wind-driven redistribution of snow. We found stratigraphic noise on the Antarctic Plateau to be related to the local accumulation rate, snow surface roughness and slope inclination, which can guide future decisions on sampling locations and thus increase the resolution of climate reconstructions from low-accumulation areas.
Antoine Grisart, Mathieu Casado, Vasileios Gkinis, Bo Vinther, Philippe Naveau, Mathieu Vrac, Thomas Laepple, Bénédicte Minster, Frederic Prié, Barbara Stenni, Elise Fourré, Hans Christian Steen-Larsen, Jean Jouzel, Martin Werner, Katy Pol, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Maria Hoerhold, Trevor Popp, and Amaelle Landais
Clim. Past, 18, 2289–2301, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2289-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2289-2022, 2022
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This paper presents a compilation of high-resolution (11 cm) water isotopic records, including published and new measurements, for the last 800 000 years from the EPICA Dome C ice core, Antarctica. Using this new combined water isotopes (δ18O and δD) dataset, we study the variability and possible influence of diffusion at the multi-decadal to multi-centennial scale. We observe a stronger variability at the onset of the interglacial interval corresponding to a warm period.
Alexandra M. Zuhr, Thomas Münch, Hans Christian Steen-Larsen, Maria Hörhold, and Thomas Laepple
The Cryosphere, 15, 4873–4900, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4873-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4873-2021, 2021
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Firn and ice cores are used to infer past temperatures. However, the imprint of the climatic signal in stable water isotopes is influenced by depositional modifications. We present and use a photogrammetry structure-from-motion approach and find variability in the amount, the timing, and the location of snowfall. Depositional modifications of the surface are observed, leading to mixing of snow from different snowfall events and spatial locations and thus creating noise in the proxy record.
Thomas Münch, Martin Werner, and Thomas Laepple
Clim. Past, 17, 1587–1605, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1587-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1587-2021, 2021
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We analyse Holocene climate model simulation data to find the locations of Antarctic ice cores which are best suited to reconstruct local- to regional-scale temperatures. We find that the spatial decorrelation scales of the temperature variations and of the noise from precipitation intermittency set an effective sampling length scale. Following this, a single core should be located at the
target site for the temperature reconstruction, and a second one optimally lies more than 500 km away.
Raphaël Hébert, Kira Rehfeld, and Thomas Laepple
Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 28, 311–328, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-28-311-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-28-311-2021, 2021
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Paleoclimate proxy data are essential for broadening our understanding of climate variability. There remain, however, challenges for traditional methods of variability analysis to be applied to such data, which are usually irregular. We perform a comparative analysis of different methods of scaling analysis, which provide variability estimates as a function of timescales, applied to irregular paleoclimate proxy data.
Andrew M. Dolman, Torben Kunz, Jeroen Groeneveld, and Thomas Laepple
Clim. Past, 17, 825–841, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-825-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-825-2021, 2021
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Uncertainties in climate proxy records are temporally autocorrelated. By deriving expressions for the power spectra of errors in proxy records, we can estimate appropriate uncertainties for any timescale, for example, for temporally smoothed records or for time slices. Here we outline and demonstrate this approach for climate proxies recovered from marine sediment cores.
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Short summary
We present a method to optimize the number and placement of temperature sensors in the borehole for borehole thermometry. Based on heat transfer model simulations, a greedy algorithm chooses sensor locations that minimize sampling errors. Applications in Antarctic and Greenland boreholes show this method outperforms traditional linear and exponential spacing, reducing errors up to tenfold. This approach offers an efficient, cost-effective solution to improve subsurface temperature monitoring.
We present a method to optimize the number and placement of temperature sensors in the borehole...
