Long-baseline horizontal radio-frequency transmission through polar ice

Understand

We report on analysis of englacial radio-frequency (RF) pulser data received over horizontal baselines of 1--5 km, based on broadcasts from two sets of transmitters deployed to depths of up to 1500 meters at the South Pole.

• First, we analyze data collected usingtwo RF bicone transmitters 1400 meters below the ice surface, and frozen into boreholes drilled for the IceCube experiment in 2011.
• Additionally, in Dec., 2018, a fat-dipole antenna, fed by one of three high-voltage (~1 kV), fast (~(1-5 ns)) signal generators was lowered into the 1700-m deep icehole drilled for the South Pole Ice Core Experiment (SPICE), approximately 3 km from the geographic South Pole.
• Signals from transmitters were recorded on the five englacial multi-receiver ARA stations, with receiver depths between 60--200 m.