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Biodiversity, Dynamics and Metabolics of Heterogeneous Meltwater Ponds

Entry ID: K025_2011_2012_NZ_3

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Summary

Abstract: The cryosphere consists of those parts of the Earth's surface where water is found in solid form, including areas of snow, sea ice, glaciers, permafrost, ice sheets, and icebergs. In these regions, surface temperatures remain below freezing for a portion of each year. Since ice and snow exist relatively close to their melting point, they frequently change from solid to liquid and back again due to ... fluctuations in surface temperature. Although direct measurements of the cryosphere can be difficult to obtain due to the remote locations of many of these areas, using satellite observations scientists monitor changes in the global and regional climate by observing how regions of the Earth's cryosphere shrink and expand.

This animation portrays fluctuations in the cryosphere through observations collected from a variety of satellite-based sensors. The animation begins in Antarctica, showing some unique features of the Antarctic landscape found nowhere else on earth. Ice shelves, ice streams, glaciers, and the formation of massive icebergs can be seen clearly in the flyover of the Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica. A time series shows the movement of iceberg B15A, an iceberg 295 kilometers in length which broke off of the Ross Ice Shelf in 2000. Moving farther along the coastline, a time series of the Larsen ice shelf shows the collapse of over 3,200 square kilometers ice since January 2002. As we depart from the Antarctic, we see the seasonal change of sea ice and how it nearly doubles the apparent area of the continent during the winter.

From Antarctica, the animation travels over South America showing glacier locations on this mostly tropical continent. We then move further north to observe daily changes in snow cover over the North American continent. The clouds show winter storms moving across the United States and Canada, leaving trails of snow cover behind. In a close-up view of the western US, we compare the difference in land cover between two years: 2003 when the region received a normal amount of snow and 2002 when little snow was accumulated. The difference in the surrounding vegetation due to the lack of spring melt water from the mountain snow pack is evident.

As the animation moves from the western US to the Arctic region, the areas effected by permafrost are visible. As time marches forward from March to September, the daily snow and sea ice recede and reveal the vast areas of permafrost surrounding the Arctic Ocean.

The animation shows a one-year cycle of Arctic sea ice followed by the mean September minimum sea ice for each year from 1979 through 2008. The superimposed graph of the area of Arctic sea ice at this minimum clearly shows the dramatic decrease in Artic sea ice over the last few years.

While moving from the Arctic to Greenland, the animation shows the constant motion of the Arctic polar ice using daily measures of sea ice activity. Sea ice flows from the Arctic into Baffin Bay as the seasonal ice expands southward. As we draw close to the Greenland coast, the animation shows the recent changes in the Jakobshavn glacier. Although Jakobshavn receded only slightly from 1964 to 2001, the animation shows significant recession from 2001 through 2009. As the animation pulls out from Jakobshavn, the effect of the increased flow rate of Greenland costal glaciers is shown by the thinning ice shelf regions near the Greenland coast.

This animation shows a wealth of data collected from satellite observations of the cryosphere and the impact that recent cryospheric changes are making on our planet. http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003600/a003619/Tour_Cryospher...

For more information on the data sets used in this visualization, visit NASA's EOS DAAC website (http://nasadaacs.eos.nasa.gov/).

[Summary provided by the NASA Scientific Visualization Studio.]

Related URL

Link: GET DATA

Description: Access the cryosphere animations.

Multimedia Sample

View full image

Caption: Requires either Media Player or QuickTime to play

Geographic Coverage

(Click for Interactive Map)

Spatial coordinates

N: 90.0

S: -90.0

E: 180.0

W: -180.0

Data Set Citation

Dataset Originator/Creator: NASA GSFC Scientific Visualization Studio

Dataset Title: A Tour of the Cryosphere 2009

Dataset Series Name: 3619

Dataset Release Date: 2009-08-27

Dataset Publisher: NASA GSFC Scientific Visualization Studio

Data Presentation Form: Animation

Online Resource: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003600/a003619/

Location Keywords

CONTINENT > ANTARCTICA

GEOGRAPHIC REGION > ARCTIC

GEOGRAPHIC REGION > GLOBAL

GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR

Science Keywords

CRYOSPHERE > FROZEN GROUND > GROUND ICE

CRYOSPHERE > FROZEN GROUND > PERMAFROST

ISO Topic Category

ELEVATION

GEOSCIENTIFIC INFORMATION

INLAND WATERS

Platform

Aircraft

GROUND STATIONS

Instrument

Radar Altimeters

GPS > Global Positioning System

GPS RECEIVERS

Project

EOSDIS > Earth Observing System Data Information System

ESIP > Earth Science Information Partners Program

RAMP > Radarsat Antarctic Mapping Project

Quality The vertical accuracy of the DEM is estimated at about 100-130 m over the rugged mountainous areas, better than 2 m for the ice shelves, better than 15m for the interior ice sheet and about 35 m for the steeper ice sheet perimeter.

Ancillary Keywords

Aircraft

Altimetry

Data Set Progress

COMPLETE

Originating Center

BPRC

Data Center

NSIDC Distributed Active Archive Center

Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org/daac/index.html
Dataset ID: NSIDC-0082

Data Center Personnel
Name: NSIDC USER SERVICES Phone: +1 (303) 492-6199 Fax: +1 (303) 492-2468 Email: nsidc at nsidc.org Contact Address: National Snow and Ice Data Center CIRES, 449 UCB University of Colorado City: Boulder Province or State: CO Postal Code: 80309-0449 Country: USA

National Snow and Ice Data Center

Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org
Dataset ID: NSIDC-0082

Data Center Personnel
Name: NSIDC USER SERVICES Phone: +1 (303) 492-6199 Fax: +1 (303) 492-2468 Email: nsidc at nsidc.org Contact Address: National Snow and Ice Data Center CIRES, 449 UCB University of Colorado City: Boulder Province or State: CO Postal Code: 80309-0449 Country: USA