Operation IceBridge - Arctic NOAA Flights

Released Monday, December 9, 2019

ID: 13437

- Videography:
- Jefferson Beck

In Spring of 2016, Operation IceBridge conducted its eight spring Arctic survey of polar ice over the course of five weeks. Six research flights studying sea ice were based in Thule, Greenland, while ten that focused on land ice flew out of Kangerlussuaq in southern Greenland.

For the survey, the crew utilized National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s P-3 Orion Hurricane Hunter plane. NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia provided the laser altimeter and one of the infrared cameras on the P-3. IceBridge's three radar instruments came from the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets at the University of Kansas, while NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California, provided the Digital Mapping System, and the University of Colorado loaned the second infrared camera.

During this campaign the IceBridge aircraft flew under the path of Sentinel-3A, a recently launched ESA satellite that carries a radar altimeter that gauges sea ice thickness. Scientists will compare the Sentinel-3A measurements to the data IceBridge collected over the same spots with its radar and laser altimeters. This comparison will help validate and refine Sentinel-3A’s data gathering.

For the Spring 2016 Arctic campaign, the crew utilized National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s P-3 Orion Hurricane Hunter plane, 'Miss Piggy'. NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia provided the laser altimeter and one of the infrared cameras on the P-3. IceBridge's three radar instruments came from the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets at the University of Kansas, while NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California, provided the Digital Mapping System, and the University of Colorado loaned the second infrared camera.

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