The TAPIR lab works to develop custom radar sounders and passive seismic instrumentation for challenging applications in addition to owning several commercial geophysical instruments.
Custom Radar Sounders
Arizona Radio Echo Sounder (ARES)
ARES is our current generation airborne Medium Frequency (MF) and High Frequency (HF) ice sounding radar. The low frequency signals transmitted by this radar allow it to penetrate temperate ice greater than a kilometer thick. It was used during the 2020 and 2021 Operation IceBridge Alaska campaign.
Long Wavelength Radio Echo Sounder (LoWRES)
LoWRES was the predecessor of ARES, it was used during the 2019 Operation IceBridge Alaska campaign.
Very Efficient Radar Very Efficient Team (VERVET)
VERVET was the predecessor of LoWRES, it was used during the 2018 Operation IceBridge Alaska campaign.
Rock Glacier PodRacer (RGPR)
In conjunction with an impulse ground-penetrating radar system and winter snowpack, the PodRacer design is arguably the world's most efficient rock glacier subsurface surveyor.
Passive Seismic
We modified low-cost 3-component seismometers to record ambient seismic noise in a wide variety of environments that allow us to perform analyses without an active seismic source.