NASA says it is preparing for the start of the second year of the biggest airborne survey ever flown of Earth's polar ice -- Operation IceBridge.
The space agency says the project's second year will start Monday when NASA aircraft arrive in Greenland.
As per Scientists the IceBridge mission allows them to track changes in the extent and thickness of polar ice, which is significant for understanding ice dynamics. IceBridge began in March 2009 as a means to fill the gap in polar observations among the loss of NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite, ICESat, also the launch of ICESat-2, planned for 2015.
The annual missions fly above the arctic during March and April and over Antarctica during October and November.
In grounding for the approximately 200 science flight hours during the spring campaign, the space agency says engineers have been outfitting NASA's DC-8 aircraft with a range of science instruments. The mission's first precedence is to survey arctic sea ice, which reaches its maximum extent every year in March or early April. High- and low-altitude flights also will survey Greenland's ice sheet and outlet glaciers.
In mid-April the engineers will relocate the science instruments to NASA's smaller, more maneuverable P-3B aircraft and then spend May making one more 10 to 12 science flights from Kangerlussuaq and Thule, Greenland.
The space agency says the project's second year will start Monday when NASA aircraft arrive in Greenland.
As per Scientists the IceBridge mission allows them to track changes in the extent and thickness of polar ice, which is significant for understanding ice dynamics. IceBridge began in March 2009 as a means to fill the gap in polar observations among the loss of NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite, ICESat, also the launch of ICESat-2, planned for 2015.
The annual missions fly above the arctic during March and April and over Antarctica during October and November.
In grounding for the approximately 200 science flight hours during the spring campaign, the space agency says engineers have been outfitting NASA's DC-8 aircraft with a range of science instruments. The mission's first precedence is to survey arctic sea ice, which reaches its maximum extent every year in March or early April. High- and low-altitude flights also will survey Greenland's ice sheet and outlet glaciers.
In mid-April the engineers will relocate the science instruments to NASA's smaller, more maneuverable P-3B aircraft and then spend May making one more 10 to 12 science flights from Kangerlussuaq and Thule, Greenland.
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