Active seismic measurements were an important part of geophysical traverses on the Antarctic ice sheet as far back as the 1920s. These methods lost their leading role for ice thickness measurements to much faster ground-based and airborne radar surveys because of the considerable logistical effort necessary for seismic data acquisition. However, new achievements with a vibrator source in active seismics (vibroseis for short) could open new prospects and foster future geological and glaciological surveys in Antarctica and Greenland and on ice caps and glaciers. Active seismic methods have the unique ability to image subice geology and remotely obtain its physical properties. Friction at the basal interface of an ice sheet plays a pivotal role in controlling ice dynamics and is largely determined by the presence of water and/or sediments underneath the ice. Highquality seismic reflection measurements came in demand as scientific interest in the dynamics of ice streams (e.g., West Antarctic ice streams) increased and as site surveys were needed for optimum sampling of subice sediments for paleoclimate studies (e.g., Cape Roberts Project, Antarctic Geological Drilling (ANDRILL)). Nevertheless, the available literature demonstrates that seismic studies on ice sheets are not widespread and are only carried out on small, local scales over a few tens of kilometers. Prominent examples of such seismic studies are the observation of transient processes in bed geology driven by ice flow [Smith et al., 2007] and the long record of seismic exploration of subglacial lake environments, for example, around Lake Vostok and more recently around subglacial Lake Ellsworth. Seismic properties of the ice sheets remain only an occasional topic [Horgan et al., 2008], often complementary to radar.