Premium
UV and optical light transmission properties in deep ice at the South Pole
Author(s) -
Askebjer P.,
Barwick S. W.,
Bergström L.,
Bouchta A.,
Carius S.,
Dalberg E.,
Erlandsson B.,
Goobar A.,
Gray L.,
Hallgren A.,
Halzen F.,
Heukenkamp H.,
Hulth P. O.,
Hundertmark S.,
Jacobsen J.,
Kandhadai V.,
Karle A.,
Liubarsky I.,
Lowder D.,
Miller T.,
Mock P.,
Morse R.,
Porrata R.,
Price P. B.,
Richards A.,
Rubinstein H.,
Schneider E.,
Spiering Ch.,
Streicher O.,
Sun Q.,
Thon Th.,
Tilav S.,
Wischnewski R.,
Walck C.,
Yodh G.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/97gl01246
Subject(s) - wavelength , scattering , optics , absorption (acoustics) , attenuation length , light scattering , laser , physics , materials science
Both absorption and scattering of light at wavelengths 410 to 610 nanometers were measured in the South Pole ice at depths 0.8 to 1 kilometer with the laser calibration system of the Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA). At the shortest wavelengths the absorption lengths exceeded 200 meters—an order of magnitude longer than has been reported for laboratory ice. The absorption shows a strong wavelength dependence while the scattering length is found to be independent of the wavelength, consistent with the hypothesis of a residual density of air bubbles in the ice. The observed linear decrease of the inverse scattering length with depth is compatible with an earlier measurement by the AMANDA collaboration (at ∼515 nanometers).