Publications and Reports
Babcock, E.L., T. Carey, T. Mayrberger, and K. Soofi. 2026. Where gravel is gold: geophysical gravel exploration on Alaska’s North Slope. Geophysics (in progress).

Babcock, E.L., S. Candela, M. Loso, and S. O’Neel. 2026. Ground-penetrating-radar estimates of snow depth on Taku Glacier, Alaska over an isothermal saturated snowpack and implications for glacier mass balance: Journal of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics (in revision).

Darrow, M.M, E.L. Babcock, and B.A. Leshchinsky. 2026. Internal Structure, Kinematics, and Prehistory of Frozen Debris Lobe-A (FDL-A), Brooks Range, Alaska. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes (in press).

Hill, B., T.J. Young, D. Lilien, E. Babcock, N. Bienert, D. Blankenship, J. Bradford, et al. 2025. Radar polarimetry in glaciology: Theory and measurement techniques for radio-wave propagation through birefringent ice masses. Reviews of Geophysics, 63, e2024RG000842. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024RG000842.

Swanger, K.M., E.L. Babcock, K. Winsor, J.L. Lamp, and G. Winckler. 2025. Moraines and dead ice in Taylor Valley, Antarctica record retreat of alpine and outlet glaciers from Marine Isotope Stage 5 to 4. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 57(1), 2478696. https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2025.2478696.

Babcock, E.L., Pullammannappallil, G. Speeter, and C. Colwell. (2023) Spatial-autocorrelation (SPAC) analysis using seismic ambient noise as applied to engineering applications in Alaska. First Break Special Topic, 41: 2-8.

Babcock, E.L. 2021. Ground-penetrating-radar Investigations to Support a Church Relocation Due to Coastal Erosion. Fast Times Technical Articles, 26(3).

Winsor, K., K.M. Swanger, E.L. Babcock, J.L. Dickson, D. Schmidt, and R.D. Valetta. 2020. Origin, structure and geochemistry of a rock glacier near Don Juan Pond, Wright Valley, Antarctica: Antarctic Science, 32(4): 273-287.

Winsor, K., K.M. Swanger, E.L. Babcock, R.D. Valetta, and J.L. Dickson.  2020. Rock glacier characteristics serve as an indirect record of multiple alpine glacier advances in Taylor Valley, Antarctica: The Cryosphere, 14:1-16.

Swanger, K.M., E.L. Babcock, K. Winsor, and R.D. Valletta. 2019. Rock Glaciers in Pearse Valley, Antarctica record outlet and alpine glacier advance from MIS 5 through the Holocene: Geomorphology, 336: 40-51.

Creighton, A.L., A.D. Parsekian, M. Angelopolous, B.M. Jones, A. Bondurant, M. Engram, J. Lenz, P. Overduin, G. Grosse, E.L. Babcock, and C. Arp.  2018. Revealing thermokarst lake talik geometry using geophysical imaging and thermal modelling: Journal of Geophysical Research, Solid Earth, 123(11): 9310-9323.

Babcock, E.L. 2018. EM61 and ground-penetrating-radar surveys of a formerly used defense site (FUDS) in the western Aleutian Islands: Logic Geophysics & Analytics LLC Technical Report.

Babcock, E.L. 2018. Exploring for gravel on Alaska's North Slope using capacitively-coupled resistivity: Logic Geophysics & Analytics LLC Technical Report.

Babcock, E.L. 2017. Ground-penetrating-radar surveys of buried ice lenses in roads on the North Slope of Alaska: Logic Geophysics & Analytics LLC Technical Report.

Jones, B.M., C.A. Baughman, V.E. Romanovsky, A.D. Parsekian, E.L. Babcock, M.C. Jones, G. Grosse, and E.E. Berg. 2016. The presence of rapidly degrading permafrost plateaus in southcentral Alaska: The Cryosphere, 10: 2673-2692.

Babcock, E.L., A.P. Annan, and J.H. Bradford. 2016. Cable effects in ground-penetrating radar data and implications for quantitative amplitude measurements: Journal of Engineering and Environmental Geophysics.

Freemuth, J. and E.L. Babcock. 2016. “Governance, Science and the Federal Lands" in Environmental Politics in the West (3rd ed.), Zachary Smith and John Freemuth eds., Boulder: University of Colorado.

Bradford, J.H., E.L. Babcock, H.-P, Marshall, and D.F. Dickins. 2016. Targeted full-waveform inversion of ground-penetrating radar data for quantification of oil spills under sea ice:  Geophysics, 81(1): WA59-WA70.

Babcock, E.L. and J.H. Bradford. 2015. Quantifying the GPR response to ultra-thin layers of non-aqueous phase liquid contaminants: Interpretation, 3(4): SAB23-SA31.

Babcock, E.L., C.N. Nettels, and P. Beardsley. 2015. Assessment of the transport mechanism at a hydrocarbon spill site using geophysical, geological, and geotechnical techniques: Interpretation, 3(4): SAB1-SAB7.

Babcock, E.L., J.H. Bradford, and C. Hall. 2015. Electrical anisotropy in sea ice and a dual-polarization radar system to mitigate the effects of preferential attenuation in imaging sea ice: Cold Regions Science and Technology, 118: 105-111.

Bradford, J.H., H.-P. Marshall, E.L. Babcock, and D.F. Dickins. 2015. Targeted Full-Waveform Inversion of Ground-Penetrating Radar Data for Quantification of Oil Spills Under Sea Ice: Arctic Technology Conference Expanded Abstract.

Babcock, E.L. and J.H. Bradford. 2015. Reflection waveform inversion of ground-penetrating radar data for characterizing thin and ultra-thin layers of non-aqueous phase liquid contaminants in stratified media: Geophysics, 80(2): H1-H11.

Babcock, E.L. and J.H. Bradford. 2014. Quantifying the basal conditions of a mountain glacier using a targeted full-waveform inversion: Bench Glacier, Alaska: Journal of Glaciology, 60(224): doi: 10.3189/2014JoG14J072.

Babcock, E.L. 2014. Targeted full-waveform inversion for recovering thin- and ultra-thin-layer properties using radar and seismic reflection methods:  Doctoral Dissertation, Boise State University Scholarworks.

Hu, E., E.L. Babcock, S.E. Bialkowski, S.B. Jones, and M. Tuller. 2014. Methods and Techniques for Measuring Gas Emissions from Agricultural and Animal Feeding Operations: Critical Reviews in Analytical Chemistry, 44: 200 – 218.

Babcock, E.L., J.H. Bradford, and C. Hall. 2013. Radar wave anisotropy in sea ice and implications for oil spill detection in and under sea ice: Society of Exploration Geophysicists Annual Meeting Technical Program Expanded Abstracts, 4568 – 4572.

Babcock, E.L. and J.H. Bradford. 2013. Detecting Subsurface Contamination Using Ground Penetrating Radar and Amplitude Variation with Offset Analysis:  IEEE Proceedings: 7th International Workshop on Advanced Ground Penetrating Radar.

Bradford, J.H. and E.L. Babcock. 2013. The need to adapt the exploration model from the oil patch to contaminated-site characterization: A case study from Hill AFB, Utah, USA: The Leading Edge, 32(7): 750-756.

Babcock, E.L. and J. Silvertooth. 2012. Soil Testing and Plant Analysis Relationships for Irrigated Chile Production: Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 43(20): 2651-2668.

Babcock, E.L., M. Tuller, S.B. Jones, and J. Walworth. 2011. Greenhouse Gas Emission from Agriculture and Animal Operations: Influencing Factors, Measurement Limitations, and Potential Mitigation Strategies. Conference Paper: ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meetings.
Babcock, E.L. 2010. Soil Testing and Plant Analysis Relationships for Irrigated Chile Production: M.S. Thesis, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.

Presentations and Abstracts
Babcock, E.L. 2025. Stories about Alaskan Entrepreneurship – a Geophysical Perspective. Invited Speaker, PMI Alaska Chapter Annual Banquet.

Babcock, E.L. 2024. Cold-Weather Geophysics: Permafrost, Glaciers, and Northern Regions. Invited Speaker, Geophysical

Applications in the Near-Surface (GAINS), Environmental & Engineering Geophysical Society (EEGS).

Babcock, E.L. 2024. Geophysical applications for contaminated sites; Alaska Forum on the Environment.

Babcock, E.L. 2024. What lies below: Near-surface geophysical case studies in Alaska. Invited Speaker, Alaska Geological Society.

Babcock, E.L. 2023. Near-Surface Geophysical Applications in Alaska: Invited speaker, Heiland Lecture Series, Colorado School of Mines.

Babcock, E.L. 2023. Where gravel is gold: Using capacitively-coupled resistivity to explore for gravel deposits in Northern Alaska; Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems.

Babcock, E.L. 2023. What lies beneath: Examples from ground-penetrating-radar mapping of bedrock surfaces; Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems.

Babcock, E.L. 2022. Ground-penetrating-radar surveys to locate burials in Karluk, Alaska; Alaska Anthropological Association Annual Meeting.

Babcock, E.L. 2021. Geophysics in Alaska: Arctic Applications; University of Wyoming, Invited presentation.

Babcock, E.L. 2021. Ground-penetrating radar: Theory and Practice in Alaska; Kansas State University, Invited presentation.

Babcock, E.L. 2021. Near-surface geophysics for environmental and engineering problems: Case studies from Alaska; Society of Exploration Geophysicists’ Women’s Network, Invited presentation.

Babcock, E.L. 2020. Geophysical tools for engineering applications; American Society of Civil Engineers, Invited Talk.

Babcock, E.L. 2020. Business of Applied Geophysics. Society of Exploration Geophysicists Annual Meeting, Plenary Session,Invited Talk.

Babcock, E.L. 2020. What lies below: Subsurface investigations in northern regions using geophysical tools: Arctic Ambitions VIII.

Babcock, E.L. 2019. Geophysical tools for infrastructure and environmental project in Alaska: Alaska Tribal Conference on Environmental Management.

Swanger, K., R. DeWitt., E.L. Babcock, and K. Winsor. 2019. Holocene stream degradation of pre-Holocene buried ice in the Dry Valleys: using optically-stimulated luminescence dating on fluvial deposits: International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences.

Swanger, K., K. Winsor, E.L. Babcock, R. ReWitt, and A. Pelletier. 2019. Burial of cold-based glacier ice in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica: International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences.

Babcock, E.L. 2018. Using Geophysics to see beneath the surface: Alaska Native Village Corporation Association.

Creighton, A., A. Parsekian, M. Angelopoulos, B. Jones, A. Bondurant, P. Overduin, E. Babcock, M. Engram, and C. Arp. 2017. Effect of thermokarst lake margin expansion rate on sub-lake permafrost thaw in continuous permafrost: American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting.

Creighton, A., A. Parsekian, B. Jones, E. Babcock, A. Bondurant, and C. Arp. 2017. Geophysical investigations of talik structure beneath and actively expanding thermokarst lake in continuous permafrost: Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems.

O’Neel, S., L. Sass, C. McNeil, E. Babcock, and 10 others. 2016. From icefield to ocean: investigating biophysical linkages at Wolverine Glacier, Alaska: American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting.

Baughman, C.A., B.M. Jones, E.L. Babcock, K.L. Bodony, D.H. Mann, C.F. Larsen, E.A. Himelstoss and J. Smith. 2016. Remotely sensing a cold region dune field using airborne LiDAR and high resolution aerial photography: American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting.

Winsor, K., K.M. Swanger, E.L. Babcock, R.D. Valletta, and J.L. Dickson. 2016. Multiple Ice Advances Suggested by Rock Glacier Stratigraphy and Surface Weathering in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, East Antarctica: American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting.

Babcock, E., L. Sass, S. Candela, D. McGrath, C. McNeil, and S. O’Neel. 2016. Spatial variability of snow accumulation from 170 kilometers of ground- and air-borne ground-penetrating-radar data over Wolverine Glacier, Alaska: American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting.

McGrath, D., L. Sass, C. McNeil, E. Babcock, S. Candela, S. O’Neel, A. Arendt, and H.-P. Marshall. 2016. Inter-annual variability in snow accumulation using ground-penetrating radar on Wolverine and Gulkana glaciers, Alaska: Implications for glacier mass-balance modeling: American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting.

Creighton, A., A. Parsekian, C. Arp, B. Jones, E. Babcock, and A. Bondurant. 2016. Geophysical characterization of cold regions hydrology and permafrost dynamics: American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting.

Young, E., A. Muto, and E. Babcock.  2016. Summer-time mass balance of Wolverine Glacier, Alaska, derived from ground-based time-lapse microgravity measurements: American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting.

McGrath, D., L. Sass, E. Babcock, C. McNeil, S. Candela, A. Arendt, and H.-P. Marshall. 2016. From n=3 to n=200,000: Applications of GPR to measure snow accumulation on glaciers: Mountain Climate Conference.

Whorton, E., C. McNeil, L. Sass, A. Clark, S. O’Neel, D. Fagre, D. McGrath, E. Peitzsch, E. Babcock, and J. Foreman. 2016. Moving forward: U.S. Geological Survey glacier mass balance research: Mountain Climate Conference.

O’Neel, S., L. Sass, C. McNeil, E. Babcock, D. McGrath, A. Arendt, E. Klein, H.-P. Marshall, E. Hood, D. Hill, J. Beamer. 2016. Biophysical linkages in coastal Alaska’s icefield-to-ocean ecosystem: Mountain Climate Conference.

Babcock, E., S. O’Neel, S. Candela, L. Sass, D. McGrath, and C. McNeil. 2016. Data, data everywhere but how much do you need? Northwest Glaciology Annual Meeting.

Baughman, C.A., B.M. Jones, E.L. Babcock, K.L. Bodony, D.H. Mann, C.F. Larsen, and J. Smith. 2016. Remotely sensing the Nogahabara dune field using airborne LiDAR and high resolution aerial photography: The 14th International Circumpolar Remote Sensing Symposium.

Jones, B.M., C.A. Baughman, V.E. Romanovsky, A.D. Parsekian, E.L. Babcock, M.C. Jones, G. Grosse, and E.E. Berg. 2016. The presence of rapidly degrading permafrost plateaus in southcentral Alaska: International Conference on Permafrost.

Babcock, E.L. 2016. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ground-Penetrating Radar: U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Science Center Invited Presentation.

Winsor, K., K.M. Swanger, J.L. Dickson, E.L. Babcock, and R.D. Valletta. 2016. Potential rock glacier surface sediment contribution to meltwater geochemistry: A Wright Valley cases study. Scientific Committee on Antarctica Research Annual Meeting. 

Winsor, K., K.M. Swanger, R.D. Valletta, J.L. Dickson, and E.L. Babcock. 2016. Long-term surface weathering along a rock glacier in the South Fork of Wright Valley, East Antarctica: Geological Society of American Northeastern Section Annual Meeting.

Swanger, K.M., K. Winsor, R. DeWitt, E.L. Babcock, R.D.Valletta, and J.L. Dickson. 2016. Buried glacial ice in the McMurdo Dry Valleys: climate archives on the edge of change: Scientific Committee on Antarctica Research Annual Meeting.

Babcock, E.L., C. Nettels., and P. Beardsley. 2016. Case History: Assessment of the transport mechanism at an accidental hydrocarbon release using geophysical, geotechnical, and geological information: Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems.

Babcock, E.L. and J.H. Bradford. 2016. Quantifying the ground-penetrating radar response to ultra-thin layers of non-aqueous phase liquid contaminants: Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems.

Babcock, E.L. 2015. Environmental and Contaminated Site Characterization using Geophysical Electrical Methods: Bristol Environmental Remediation Services.

Babcock, E.L. 2014. Considerations for Detecting Spilled Oil in and Under Ice and Snow: Geophysical Society of Alaska Invited Presentation.

Babcock, E.L. 2014. Technical Considerations for Geophysical Tools Implemented for Environmental and Geotechnical Characterization: Environmental Resources Management of Anchorage.

Babcock. E.L. 2014. Targeted full-waveform inversion for recovering thin- and ultra-thin-layer properties using radar and seismic reflection methods: Doctoral Dissertation Defense.

Babcock, E.L., J.H. Bradford, and K. Lindsey. 2014. Estimating snow-water equivalent in Arctic and mountain environments using long-distance ground-penetrating-radar transects: Boise State University Student Research Conference.

Babcock, E.L. and J.H. Bradford. 2013. Detecting Subsurface Contamination Using Ground Penetrating Radar and Amplitude Variation with Offset Analysis: 7th International Workshop on Advanced Ground Penetrating Radar. 

Lindsey, K., E.L. Babcock, and J.H. Bradford. 2013. Got clean water? Seismic imaging for groundwater management in coastal Bénin, West Africa: Geoscientists Without Borders Presentation.

Babcock, E.L. 2013. Ground-penetrating radar: Theory and application for oil-spill detection in and under sea ice: ConocoPhillips Invited Presentation.

Babcock, E.L. and J.H. Bradford. 2013. Detecting Subsurface Contaminants Using Ground-Penetrating Radar and Amplitude Variation with Offset Analysis: ExxonMobil Invited Presentation.

Babcock, E.L. and J.H. Bradford. 2013. Targeted full-waveform inversion for ultra-thin layer properties using ground-penetrating radar data: American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting.

Babcock, E.L. and J.H. Freemuth. 2013. Linking science to policy: Alterative Approach to Boundary Organization: Western Social Science Association Annual Meeting.

Babcock, E.L., J.H. Bradford, and C. Hall. 2013. Radar wave anisotropy in sea ice and implications for oil spill detection in and under sea ice: Society of Exploration Geophysicists Annual Meeting.

Babcock, E.L., J. H. Bradford, H.-P. Marshall, C. Hall, and D.F. Dickins. 2012. Operational Aspects and Considerations for Oil Spill Remediation in Arctic Environments: Society of Exploration Geophysicists /American Geophysical Union Cryosphere Geophysics Workshop.

Babcock, E.L., J. H. Bradford, H.-P. Marshall, C. Hall, and D.F. Dickins.  2012. Using ground-penetrating radar to detect oil in and under ice and snow: US-Canada Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum.

Babcock, E.L. and J. Silvertooth. 2010. Soil Testing and Plant Analysis Relationships for Irrigated Chile Production: Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting.

Babcock, E.L. 2010. Soil Testing and Plant Analysis Relationships for Irrigated Chile Production: University of Arizona Master’s Thesis Defense.