LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- University of Kansas researchers are receiving a $1.7 million federal grant to study climate change.

The National Science Foundation is awarding the money over three years. It will help the university's Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets develop enhanced radar that can capture higher-resolution images of polar ice sheets.

The ultra-wideband radar will provide more information on things like the conditions of the layers toward the top of an ice sheet. Radar images also help researchers study things such as whether there is water underneath, which can contribute to an area of an ice sheet moving faster than the surrounding ice.

Researchers will use the images to find the best spots to drill for ice core samples. Those samples provide a historical record of climate conditions at certain times.