WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- NASA on Friday announced that its Operation IceBridge mission is set to begin its second year of airborne surveys over Antarctica, which monitors the region's changing sea ice, ice sheets and glaciers.

Scientists returned this week to the Southern Hemisphere where the mission is set to begin. 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, Maryland.

"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," Studinger added.



IceBridge science flights, which last about 11 hours, 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.


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. 

In addition, 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. Previous lines will also be flown over the glacier.





"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."

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