Getting Started

Getting Started#

Frozen Legacies Documentation

Getting Started with Frozen Legacies

Explore restored Antarctic airborne radar observations, survey flight tracks, and LYRA-derived geophysical products through the CryoStack platform.

Open Frozen Legacies User Manual

Frozen Legacies is the historical airborne radar exploration application within CryoStack. It provides a map-based interface for browsing registered Antarctic radar datasets, selecting survey flights, inspecting individual observations, and reviewing associated geophysical quantities.

The application is organized around a simple hierarchy:

Dataset
   ↓
Flight
   ↓
Observation

This guide introduces the standard workflow for opening Frozen Legacies, selecting a dataset, exploring flights, and inspecting radar observations.

Before You Begin#

To use Frozen Legacies, you need:

  • A modern web browser.

  • Access to the CryoStack platform.

  • At least one Frozen Legacies dataset registered in the deployment.

  • Network access to any external data or image storage required by the selected dataset.

The currently registered dataset contains restored Antarctic airborne radar observations and LYRA-derived quantities.

Open Frozen Legacies#

Open:

https://cryostack.eas.gatech.edu/frozen-legacies/

The Frozen Legacies interface is organized into two principal areas:

  1. Antarctic map — displays survey flight tracks and georeferenced radar observations.

  2. Dataset Explorer — provides dataset and flight controls and displays information for the selected observation.

Above them, Map, Manual, and Automatic switch the main area between the Antarctic map and the radar workspace, where you can open raw radar imagery or upload your own radar TIFF. Returning to Map keeps your current selection. Manual is the ASTRA A-scope picker; Automatic runs the URSA automatic picker where the server supports it (its results are scientifically unvalidated and cannot be submitted for review).

The navigation bar at the top provides access to:

  • Frozen Legacies,

  • Getting Started,

  • User Manual,

  • Developer Guide,

  • and your CryoStack account.

Explore the Antarctic Map#

The main application area displays Antarctica using an Antarctic Polar Stereographic map.

The map provides spatial context for:

  • airborne survey tracks,

  • radar observation locations,

  • the South Pole,

  • and available geographic reference features.

Use the map controls to zoom in and out.

You can also pan across the map to inspect other regions.

Select a Dataset#

Use the Dataset menu in the Dataset Explorer to choose a registered radar collection.

Selecting a dataset updates:

  • the available flight list,

  • the displayed flight tracks,

  • the visible radar observations,

  • and the associated dataset metadata.

The current release includes:

Frozen Legacies LYRA Radar Observations

Additional datasets can be incorporated through the Frozen Legacies dataset registry.

Select a Flight#

Use the Flight menu to choose a survey flight.

When a flight is selected:

  • the selected flight track is emphasized,

  • unrelated flight tracks are de-emphasized,

  • observations are filtered to the selected flight,

  • and the map moves to the selected survey area.

Select All flights to return to the complete dataset view.

Inspect an Observation#

Click an observation point on the Antarctic map.

The Dataset Explorer will display the available record information.

Depending on the dataset, the selected observation may include:

  • observation identifier,

  • dataset,

  • flight number,

  • CBD value,

  • frame number,

  • latitude,

  • longitude,

  • echo status,

  • ice thickness,

  • bed signal-to-noise ratio,

  • surface temperature,

  • reflectivity,

  • attenuation,

  • specularity,

  • source-file provenance,

  • and associated scientific products.

Observation Status#

Observation markers may use different colors to indicate the quality of the radar return.

For the current LYRA-derived observations, statuses may include:

  • Good — a usable bed return was identified.

  • Weak bed — the bed return is present but weak.

  • No bed — no reliable bed return was identified.

The selected observation panel reports the corresponding status.

Review Dataset Metadata#

When an observation is selected, the Dataset Explorer also exposes information about the parent dataset.

This may include:

  • collection title,

  • dataset identifier,

  • campaign,

  • institution,

  • product family,

  • source information,

  • and future citation or DOI metadata.

This keeps the observation connected to its scientific provenance.

Review LYRA-Derived Quantities#

The current LYRA dataset may provide derived quantities including:

  • ice thickness,

  • bed SNR,

  • surface temperature,

  • reflectivity,

  • attenuation,

  • and specularity.

These values are displayed when available for the selected observation.

Not every dataset is required to provide the same quantities.

Radar Preview#

The observation panel includes a radar preview area.

When radar imagery becomes available for an observation, the corresponding radar product can be displayed directly in this section.

Until imagery is available, Frozen Legacies displays a placeholder while preserving the rest of the observation metadata.

Scientific Products#

Frozen Legacies is designed to associate scientific products directly with observations.

A dataset may expose products such as:

  • radargrams,

  • processed echograms,

  • source CSV records,

  • derived radar products,

  • image products,

  • and future scientific data formats.

Available products depend on the dataset manifest and storage backend.

Downloads#

Datasets that declare downloads offer them under Dataset downloads in the Dataset Explorer (for the LYRA collection: observations and flight tracks as GeoJSON). Products of your own radar work are downloaded from the Products list.

Dataset Provenance#

Each observation retains provenance information connecting it to its original source.

This may include:

  • source file,

  • flight,

  • frame,

  • dataset identifier,

  • and campaign metadata.

This information is useful when tracing a displayed radar record back to the original processed dataset.

Current Dataset#

The current Frozen Legacies deployment includes the Frozen Legacies LYRA Radar Observations collection.

It contains restored Antarctic airborne radar observations and LYRA-derived geophysical quantities.

The frontend itself is dataset-independent. Additional radar collections can be registered without rewriting the core map interface.

Typical Workflow#

A typical Frozen Legacies session follows these steps:

  1. Open Frozen Legacies.

  2. Select a dataset.

  3. Choose a flight or retain All flights.

  4. Explore the survey area on the Antarctic map.

  5. Click an observation marker.

  6. Review the observation status.

  7. Inspect geographic and LYRA-derived quantities.

  8. Review the source provenance.

  9. Open raw radar in Manual or Automatic, or upload your own.

  10. Download products from the Products list or Dataset downloads.

Open or Upload Radar#

  1. Select Manual (or Automatic).

  2. In Radar asset, open shared radar provided by the installation, or select Upload raw radar to add a radar TIFF (with its navigation CSV) to your workspace.

  3. If you already have processed results (ASTRA or URSA picks, QC images, echograms), select Upload processed product instead — you do not need to pick again.

Pick a Radar TIFF Manually#

  1. Select Manual and choose a radar asset.

  2. Calibrate as in ASTRA: Set Up X Axis Reference Line, Set Up Y Axis Reference Line, Set Up Y Axis (four grid lines), the Sweep Rate, then Set Up X Axis (four grid lines).

  3. Pick Surface, Bed, Noise Floor, and Main Bang by selecting the feature and clicking the plot; picks snap to the red trace. No Surface / No Bed record absent reflections, and Suggest Picks proposes picks for you to check.

  4. Select Next A-scope to save the A-scope and continue along the strip.

  5. Select Done when the TIFF is finished, then download the CSV and QC image.

Your session is saved as you work; you can leave and continue later.

Pick Automatically#

Select Automatic and Run automatic picking to run URSA on the open radar asset. If this server cannot run URSA, Automatic tells you why and nothing is run. When the job finishes, its picks and QC images appear in the Products list, labelled scientifically unvalidated.

Map Reset#

Selecting All flights returns the application to the broader Antarctic dataset view.

Selecting an individual flight automatically focuses the map on the corresponding survey geometry.

Authentication#

Frozen Legacies requires a CryoStack account, like CryoLauncher and ICESEE. If you are not signed in, opening Frozen Legacies takes you to the CryoStack sign-in page and returns you to the application afterwards.

Each signed-in user has a private Frozen Legacies workspace in their CryoStack workspace. Other users cannot see its contents. The shared Frozen Legacies datasets remain the same for every user.

Next Steps#

After becoming familiar with the application: