March 5, 2010
Larsen Ice Shelf Meets Open Water
The edge of the Larsen Ice Shelf meets open water and sea ice, viewed from above during the 20th Ice Bridge flight in Antarctica. The flight, which lifted off on Nov. 16, 2009, surveyed the Antarctic Peninsula including the Larsen Ice Shelf and nearby glaciers.
Image Credit: Michael Studinger, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Last Updated: July 30, 2015
Editor: Holly Zell
Nov. 3, 2009
Operation Ice Bridge Studies Antarctic Sea Ice
An iceberg is seen out the window of NASA's DC-8 research aircraft as it flies 2,000 feet above the Amundsen Sea in West Antarctica on Wednesday, Oct., 21, 2009. This was taken on the fourth science flight of NASA's Operation Ice Bridge airborne Earth science mission to study Antarctic ice sheets, sea ice, and ice shelves.
At the mid-point of this field campaign, seven flights over Antarctica have been completed in the first 13 days of Operation Ice Bridge. The mission is on track to complete its 17 planned flights by mid-November.
Which flight target is flown on a given day is largely determined by difficult-to-forecast Antarctic weather conditions. Several of the instruments onboard cannot gather data through clouds. Twice so far, however, flights have been scrubbed at the last minute due to snow at the airport in southernmost Chile.
As of the landing of the Oct. 27 flight, completed targets included: three flights over glaciers, two over sea ice, one over the Getz ice shelf, and one to study the topography of the ice sheet on the mission's closest approach to the South Pole.
Image Credit: NASA/Jane Peterson
At the mid-point of this field campaign, seven flights over Antarctica have been completed in the first 13 days of Operation Ice Bridge. The mission is on track to complete its 17 planned flights by mid-November.
Which flight target is flown on a given day is largely determined by difficult-to-forecast Antarctic weather conditions. Several of the instruments onboard cannot gather data through clouds. Twice so far, however, flights have been scrubbed at the last minute due to snow at the airport in southernmost Chile.
As of the landing of the Oct. 27 flight, completed targets included: three flights over glaciers, two over sea ice, one over the Getz ice shelf, and one to study the topography of the ice sheet on the mission's closest approach to the South Pole.
Image Credit: NASA/Jane Peterson
Last Updated: July 30, 2015
Editor: NASA Administrator
Oct. 21, 2009
Antarctic Sea Ice
On Oct. 16, Operation Ice Bridge researchers and crew completed the first flight of the Antarctic campaign. The flight was made from the southern tip of South America and its primary target was the Getz Ice Shelf along Antarctica's Amundsen Coast. During the flight along Amundsen Coast, the aircraft's downward-looking Digital Mapping System camera captured this image of sea ice from an altitude of at least 20,000 feet.
The DC-8 aircraft flew two parallel tracks along the coast, one just offshore over the floating ice shelf, and one just inland. By measuring on either side of the "grounding line" between the floating ice and the ice on land, scientists can determine the rate at which this near-shore part of the ice shelf is melting.
Image Credit: NASA
The DC-8 aircraft flew two parallel tracks along the coast, one just offshore over the floating ice shelf, and one just inland. By measuring on either side of the "grounding line" between the floating ice and the ice on land, scientists can determine the rate at which this near-shore part of the ice shelf is melting.
Image Credit: NASA
Last Updated: July 31, 2015
Editor: NASA Administrator