![NASA's DC-8 sits on the runway at Dryden's Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., prior to the Operation IceBridge test flight on March 17, 2010 NASA's DC-8 sits on the runway at Dryden's Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., prior to the Operation IceBridge test flight on March 17, 2010](http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/434328main_plane_800.jpg)
The IceBridge mission allows scientists to track changes in the extent and thickness of polar ice, which is important for understanding ice dynamics. IceBridge began in March 2009 as a means to fill the gap in polar observations between the loss of NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite, or ICESat, and the launch of ICESat-2, planned for 2015. Annual missions fly over the Arctic in March and April and over Antarctica in October and November.
"NASA's IceBridge mission is characterizing the changes occurring in the world's polar ice sheets," said Tom Wagner, cryosphere program manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The mission's goal is to collect the most important data for improving predictive models of sea level rise and global climate change."
![NASA research pilots Dick Ewers (center) and Bill Brockett (right) of Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif NASA research pilots Dick Ewers (center) and Bill Brockett (right) of Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif](http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/434320main_crew_226.jpg)
In preparation for approximately 200 science flight hours during the spring 2010 campaign, engineers have been outfitting NASA's DC-8 aircraft with an array of science instruments. On March 21-22, the aircraft will travel to Thule, Greenland, where researchers and crew will spend about five weeks making 10 to 12 science flights. The first priority is to survey Arctic sea ice, which reaches its maximum extent each 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 transfer the science instruments to the smaller, more maneuverable P-3B aircraft. The crew will spend May making another 10 to 12 science flights from Kangerlussuaq and Thule, Greenland.
Both aircraft will carry the Airborne Topographic Mapper, or ATM -- a laser altimeter similar to those on ICESat. ATM measures changes in the surface elevation of the ice by reflecting lasers from the ground back to the aircraft and converting the readings into elevation maps. Another laser altimeter, the Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor, operates at higher altitudes and can survey larger areas quickly.
![NASA's Operation IceBridge mission will make science flights from Kangerlussuaq and Thule, Greenland, in spring 2010 to survey the area's ice sheet, outlet glaciers and sea ice NASA's Operation IceBridge mission will make science flights from Kangerlussuaq and Thule, Greenland, in spring 2010 to survey the area's ice sheet, outlet glaciers and sea ice](http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/434324main_Greenland_revised_226.jpg)
The versatility of the planes will allow some new observations not currently possible from satellites. Radar instruments from the University of Kansas and a gravimeter from Columbia University will allow scientists to "see" snow, ice, and bedrock characteristics at depths below the surface. Such information will enhance our understanding of glacier and ice sheet processes and will help scientists predict a glacier's future behavior.
"NASA has a unique capability to look at these things from a bird's-eye perspective, not only from space but also from multiple long-range, high performance aircraft," said John Sonntag, a senior scientist with URS Corporation in Wallops Island, Va., and member of the IceBridge management team. "If not for IceBridge, the global science community and the public would miss out on a great deal of knowledge about Greenland and Antarctica."
Related Links:
> Operation IceBridge
> IceBridge Spring 2010 Media Gallery
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