ICESat First Light Release: From Sea Ice to Ice Streams

  • Released Friday, May 23, 2003
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The following profile shows the dramatic change in elevation from coastal Antarctica, which is covered in sea ice for most of the year, to the center of the continent. It starts near the Amundsen Sea and travels inward, ending over the West Antarctic Ice Streams where we get a look at this dynamic portion of the polar landscape. (The green elevation profile in this animation is exaggerated vertically by a factor of 10x.)

Animation showing one ICESat elevation data pass starting near the Amundsen Sea ending over the West Antarctic Ice Streams.

A slice of ICESat elevation data (170 meter post-spaced) near the Amundsen Sea coastline laying over a flat RADARSAT texture.

A slice of ICESat elevation data (170 meter post-spaced) near the Amundsen Sea coastline laying over a flat RADARSAT texture.

Another slice of elevation data passing over the West Antarctic Ice Streams.

Another slice of elevation data passing over the West Antarctic Ice Streams.

Video slate image reads "From Sea Ice to Ice StreamsThe following profile shows the dramatic change in elevation from coastal Antarctica, which is covered in sea ice for most of the year, to the center of the continent. It starts near the Amundsen Sea and travels inward, ending over the West Antarctic Ice Streams where we get a look at this dynamic portion of the polar landscape."

Video slate image reads "From Sea Ice to Ice Streams

The following profile shows the dramatic change in elevation from coastal Antarctica, which is covered in sea ice for most of the year, to the center of the continent. It starts near the Amundsen Sea and travels inward, ending over the West Antarctic Ice Streams where we get a look at this dynamic portion of the polar landscape."

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Scientific Visualization Studio, Canadian Space Agency, RADARSAT International Inc.

This page was originally published on Friday, May 23, 2003.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:57 PM EDT.

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