NASA scientists made an unexpected discovery during a routine flight over the Greenland Ice Sheet. Radar images have revealed the existence of a military base buried under the glacier.
NASA engineers, led by Chad Greene, conducted a series of flights using radar to examine the ice beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet in April 2024. While flying east of the Pituffik Cosmodrome, Greene took a photo of the ice sheet’s surface, and the radar unexpectedly detected a structure buried under the ice.
The Secret City Was a US Military Base
It turned out that this structure was a US military base called Camp Century, built in 1959 and used during the Cold War. The base, consisting of tunnels carved into the ice, was abandoned in 1967. Over the years, snow and ice had buried the remains of the base more than 100 feet below the surface.
NASA’s UAVSAR radar system is an advanced technology that is mounted on aircraft and can image both downward and sideways. In this way, more detailed and three-dimensional maps of the region can be created. Conventional ground radars used in previous airborne surveys provided only two-dimensional profiles.
Greene stated that in the new radar data, individual structures in the base’s secret city can be seen in a way never seen before. When compared to historical settlement plans, it was observed that the parallel structures in the radar images overlapped with the tunnels housing the base’s facilities.
Scientists had previously estimated Camp Century’s depth using conventional radar maps and assessed when the base and its waste might resurface due to glacier melt. The new UAVSAR image is still being evaluated for its scientific value.
Greene and his team’s main goal was to test UAVSAR’s abilities to map ice layers and the ice bed interface. These test flights will also support future mapping efforts in Greenland, Antarctica and beyond. Detailed knowledge of ice thickness is critical for understanding how ice sheets will respond to climate change and predicting future sea level rise.