Steve Cole
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0918
stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov
Sarah DeWitt/Kathryn Hansen
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-0535/301-614-5883
sarah.l.dewitt@nasa.gov/kathryn.h.hansen@nasa.gov
RELEASE: 10-272
NASA AIRBORNE SCIENCE CAMPAIGN BEGINS ANTARCTIC SEQUEL
WASHINGTON -- Scientists returned this week to the Southern Hemisphere
where NASA's Operation IceBridge mission is set to begin its second
year of airborne surveys over Antarctica. The mission monitors the
region's changing sea ice, ice sheets and glaciers.
Researchers will make flights from Punta Arenas, Chile, on NASA's
DC-8, a 157-foot airborne laboratory equipped with a suite of seven
instruments. The focus is to re-survey areas that are undergoing
rapid change and to embark on new lines of investigation.
"We are excited to learn how the glaciers and sea ice have changed
since last year's campaign," said Michael Studinger, IceBridge
project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,
Md. "We also are going to be mapping uncharted regions that will
allow us to better assess future behavior of the Antarctic ice sheets
and sea ice."
IceBridge science flights are scheduled to begin this weekend and
continue through mid-November. Flights will take off from Punta
Arenas and cross the Southern Ocean to reach destinations including
West Antarctica, the Antarctic Peninsula and coastal areas. Each
flight lasts about 11 hours.
Instruments for the 2010 Antarctic campaign are the same as those
flown in 2009. A laser instrument will map and identify surface
changes. Radar instruments will penetrate the snow and ice to see
below the surface, providing a profile of ice characteristics and
also the shape of the bedrock supporting it. A gravity instrument
will measure the shape of seawater-filled cavities at the edge of
some major fast-moving glaciers.
Using these tools, researchers will survey targets of on-going and
potential rapid change, including the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which
is the area that has the greatest potential to rapidly increase sea
level. Another concern is that the ice sheet is below sea level,
adding to its instability.
Revisiting previously flown areas, scientists can begin to quantify
the magnitude of changes to land ice. Pine Island Glacier, the
largest ice stream in West Antarctica with significant potential
contribution to sea level rise, has long been a primary target for
sustained observations.
Satellite data, most recently from NASA's Ice, Cloud and land
Elevation Satellite (ICESat) have shown dramatic thinning there of up
to 10 meters per year in places. Previous IceBridge flights mapped
the surface of the glacier and unusual features beneath it, providing
clues to the glacier's rapid retreat and ice loss.
In addition to flying previous lines over the glacier, the IceBridge
team plans to fly a new horseshoe pattern to sample the tributaries
feeding into Pine Island Glacier's main trunk. Other new flight lines
will further explore the Antarctic Peninsula to map new targets,
including the George VI Ice Shelf, above and below the ice.
Three high-priority flights are aimed at measuring sea ice, including
a plan to map and measure sea ice across the Weddell Sea. Scientists
want to know why sea ice in Antarctica is growing in extent, unlike
sea ice in the Arctic, which is declining in extent. Current theories
range from ozone depletion to changing ocean dynamics.
Other flights are being planned to be coordinated with existing space
and ground-based missions, such as the European Space Agency's
ice-observing Cryosat-2 satellite and European ship-based research.
Overlapping measurements help researchers calibrate instruments and
boost confidence in the resulting observations.
"A concerted effort like this will allow us to produce long time
series of data spanning from past satellite missions to current and
future missions," Studinger said. "This is only possible through
international collaboration. We are excited to have many
opportunities to work with our international partners during the
upcoming campaign."
For more information about Operation IceBridge, visit:
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