High Capability Airborne Radar Sounder (HiCARS) is an ice-penetrating radar operated by the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics’ (UTIG). The system uses two flat plate dipole antennas, one mounted under each aircraft wing 19 meters apart horizontally, providing approximately 10 dB of antenna gain. Data from HiCARS enable researchers to build profiles of ice sheets that show the ice surface, internal layers, and the bedrock. HiCARS has been used extensively in Antarctica.
Delivery of Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite data products will cease on November 1, 2026. Data users should transition now to alternative products from NOAA-21 and NOAA-20.
Suomi NPP data announcement