Antarctic Ice Elevation Maps From Balloon Altimetry

Abstract

Antarctic ice-elevation maps are presented, based on 4 000 measurement points, analysed from traverses made by constant-density balloons. These balloons were launched during the Tropical Wind, Energy Conversion and Reference Level Experiment (TWERLE). The TWERLE data yielded daily maps of the elevation of the 150 mbar pressure surface in the southern hemisphere. These maps serve as a reference level from which the altimeter readings are subtracted to yield the ice elevation. The accuracy of the ice-elevation data is estimated at better than 60 m. The accuracy of the contouring depends on the density of measurements in the particular area. Two contouring techniques were used. One is based on generating elevation data at fixed grid-points from arbitrarily distributed measurements, using Cressman's method. The second is a surface spline interpolation technique by Duchon. The elevation data are of special value on the inland plateau areas. There, the typical distance between balloon measurements is sufficiently small, relative to the typical distance between contour lines at 100 m intervals. Furthermore, the inland areas are the least accessible to other mapping techniques.