Operation Ice Bridge
Phase: Operating
Launch Date: October 15, 2009
Mission Project Home Page: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/ice_bridge/index.html
Antarctica's Larsen Ice Shelf, viewed from NASA's DC-8 aircraft in 2004, is one target of the 2009 Operation: Ice Bridge Antarctica campaign. Credit: NASA/Jim Ross
Follow Operation Ice Bridge on:
Operation Ice Bridge is a six-year airborne campaign designed to capture measurements of changes in polar ice sheets and sea ice during a gap in the space-based observations of ICESAT and ICESat II.
The first Ice Bridge flights were conducted this spring, from Greenland. This fall's campaign focuses on the western Antarctic where glaciers and ice sheets have been undergoing rapid changes.*
Laser-ranging instruments will map the surface topography of the ice to see how much has been lost. Ground-penetrating radar will map the shape of the bedrock hidden beneath the ice sheet, a critical factor in improving predictions of future ice loss and global sea-level rise.
* This fall's flight Window is Oct. 15 - Nov. 21. Actual flight dates depend on real-time circumstances such as weather.
Press Releases:
- NASA Flies to Antarctica for Largest Airborne Polar Ice Survey
10.08.2009 -
NASA Ice Campaign Takes Flight in Antarctica
09.28.2009
Science Partners:
- University of Washington (lead scientist)
- Earth Institute at Columbia University (instrument team)
- University of Kansas (instrument team)
