Articles | Volume 14, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-14-503-2025
© 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-14-503-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Solar regulators for polar instrumentation: why night consumption matters
Michael R. Prior-Jones
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
Lisa Craw
School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
Jonathan D. Hawkins
School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
Elizabeth A. Bagshaw
School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
Paul Carpenter
IRIS-PASSCAL, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, New Mexico, USA
now at: Integrated Deposition Solutions, Inc., Albuquerque, NM, USA
Thomas H. Nylen
Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
Joe Pettit
EarthScope Consortium, Boulder, Colorado, USA
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Christian Solgaard, Finn Bo Madsen, Malte Winther-Dahl, Thomas Henry Nylen, Danjal Longfors Berg, Ole Bjerregaard, Javed Hassan, Per Knudsen, Michael Bevis, and Shfaqat Abbas Khan
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-198, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-198, 2026
Preprint under review for ESSD
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Greenland GNSS Network consist of more than 70 high grade GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) stations placed along the perimeter of Greenland. With this work, we present the processed position solution for the 20+ year record in a daily resolution. Along with the processed time series, we also publish the extensive metadata record for the network + all the raw data. A comparison with other subsets of the data showed an increased stability in the full processed dataset we here publish.
Falk M. Oraschewski, Inka Koch, M. Reza Ershadi, Jonathan D. Hawkins, Olaf Eisen, and Reinhard Drews
The Cryosphere, 18, 3875–3889, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3875-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3875-2024, 2024
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Mountain glaciers have a layered structure which contains information about past snow accumulation and ice flow. Using ground-penetrating radar instruments, the internal structure can be observed. The detection of layers in the deeper parts of a glacier is often difficult. Here, we present a new approach for imaging the englacial structure of an Alpine glacier (Colle Gnifetti, Switzerland and Italy) using a phase-sensitive radar that can detect reflection depth changes at sub-wavelength scales.
Guillaume Lamarche-Gagnon, Marek Stibal, Alexandre M. Anesio, Jemma L. Wadham, Jon Hawkings, Lukáš Falteisek, Kristýna Vrbická, Petra Klímová, Jakub D. Žárský, Tyler J. Kohler, Elizabeth A. Bagshaw, Jade E. Hatton, Alex D. Beaton, and Jon Telling
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-817, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-817, 2024
Preprint archived
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To better understand the microbial ecosystems that underlay Earth’s glaciers, studies often rely on indirect sampling of the subglacial environment via proglacial meltwater runoff. Our research in Greenland reveals that fluctuations in glacier melt can affect microbial composition in runoff, highlighting important biases often overlooked in studies of glacial runoff that might skew interpretations as to the subglacial origin of microbial communities exported within meltwaters.
Franz Lutz, David J. Prior, Holly Still, M. Hamish Bowman, Bia Boucinhas, Lisa Craw, Sheng Fan, Daeyeong Kim, Robert Mulvaney, Rilee E. Thomas, and Christina L. Hulbe
The Cryosphere, 16, 3313–3329, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3313-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3313-2022, 2022
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Ice crystal alignment in the sheared margins of fast-flowing polar ice is important as it may control the ice sheet flow rate, from land to the ocean. Sampling shear margins is difficult because of logistical and safety considerations. We show that crystal alignments in a glacier shear margin in Antarctica can be measured using sound waves. Results from a seismic experiment on the 50 m scale and from ultrasonic experiments on the decimetre scale match ice crystal measurements from an ice core.
Lisa Craw, Adam Treverrow, Sheng Fan, Mark Peternell, Sue Cook, Felicity McCormack, and Jason Roberts
The Cryosphere, 15, 2235–2250, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2235-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2235-2021, 2021
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Ice sheet and ice shelf models rely on data from experiments to accurately represent the way ice moves. Performing experiments at the temperatures and stresses that are generally present in nature takes a long time, and so there are few of these datasets. Here, we test the method of speeding up an experiment by running it initially at a higher temperature, before dropping to a lower target temperature to generate the relevant data. We show that this method can reduce experiment time by 55 %.
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Short summary
We tested solar regulators to find their suitability for use in powering instruments in the polar regions. We found that some models waste a lot of power and may result in instruments failing during the wintertime. We developed a model to illustrate this effect, and use it to show that a good choice of solar regulator means a greater chance of successful winter data collection and allows the use of a smaller, lighter, cheaper battery.
We tested solar regulators to find their suitability for use in powering instruments in the...