NASA IceBridge Mission Reveals New Data on Ice and Glaciers after Arctic Campaign

NASA's IceBridge's campaign began on Mar. 10 and it's finally come to its end. Now, scientists will have ample opportunity to examine the ice measurements that IceBridge collected during its long voyage.

Early in the campaign, IceBridge spent a week in Alaska in order to survey sea ice north of the state. In addition, the researchers studied sea ice conditions around the entire Arctic Basin traveling from Thule to Fairbanks and back again.

So why embark on this mission in the first place? IceBridge was sent out in order to measure sea ice so that scientists can understand how Arctic ice is changing. This in particular can help scientists forecast how sea ice coverage will change over the summer. Not only that, but it can help researchers create climate models that can predict ice melt in the future-something that's crucial considering the tide of global warming.

Yet IceBridge didn't only look at sea ice. After surveying for four weeks, the mission turned toward land ice in the southern half of Greenland. There, researchers spent three weeks surveying the ice sheet and coastal glaciers, such as Jakobshavn Glacier, which is the most rapidly-changing ice stream in Greenland.

The findings and the new data should give scientists a clear vision about what's happening to the ice. More specifically, the in-depth analysis will allow them to have a baseline with which to compare future melting against.

This isn't the only mission that NASA is sending out, either. In August, a new airborne mission known as the Arctic Radiation-IceBridge Sea and Ice Experiment (ARISE) will begin. ARISE will use a suite of instruments in order to collect data on the atmosphere and on the Arctic sea ice. Then, in October, Icebridge will return to Punta Arenas, Chile, in order to survey Antarctic ice.

Want to find out more about the campaign? Check out NASA's IceBridge website here.