Characterizing South Pole Firn Structure With Fiber Optic Sensing

Abstract

The firn layer covers 98% of Antarctica's ice sheets, protecting underlying glacial ice from the external environment. Accurate measurement of firn properties is essential for assessing cryosphere mass balance and climate change impacts. Characterizing firn structure through core sampling is expensive and logistically challenging. Seismic surveys, which translate seismic velocities into firn densities, offer an efficient alternative. This study employs Distributed Acoustic Sensing technology to transform an existing fiber-optic cable near the South Pole into a multichannel, low-maintenance, continuously interrogated seismic array. The data resolve 16 seismic wave propagation modes at frequencies up to 100 Hz that constrain P and S wave velocities as functions of depth. Using co-located geophones for ambient noise interferometry, we resolve very weak radial anisotropy. Leveraging nearby SPICEcore firn density data, we find prior empirical density-velocity relationships underestimate firn air content by over 15%. We present a new empirical relationship for the South Pole region.