14 DAY TRIAL // The image above was collected by scientists with the American space agency during the 2014 Arctic campaign NASA undertook as part of its annual Operation IceBridge. The photo captures the beauty of an exotic landscape in Greenland, centered on an area downstream of the Violin Glacier. The frozen fjord visible here features a floor that is still covered in ices.
NASA collected this image over Eastern Greenland on April 5, 2014, from aboard its dedicated P-3 Orion fixed-wing aircraft. This asset supports Operation IceBridge throughout its lifespan (2009 to 2016), collecting data on changes that occur in ice sheets at both poles and in Greenland. This mission is meant to ensure continuity between Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellites (ICESat) 1 and 2.
ICESat-1 was deactivated in February 2010 and its replacement, ICESat-2, will not launch until 2016. In the meantime, the P-3 will carry out several science flights each year, monitoring ice field changes at locations most susceptible to the effects of climate change. This way, when ICESat-2 finally launches, there will be no discontinuity in the dataset started by its predecessor.
Measuring how ice in Antarctica, the Arctic, and Greenland reacts to global warming is a very important part of being able to predict how this worldwide phenomenon will contribute to climate change throughout this century. A better understanding of ice dynamics will enable climatologists to provide more accurate models to inform governments and policy-makers around the world.