Antarctica in Three Dimensions

  • Credit

    NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

ICESat First Light Release: Antarctica in Three Dimensions

ICESat's orbit was designed to maximize coverage over the great polar ice sheets, where ground tracks overlap to create an intricate grid of data points. The accumulation of these data points in the Southern Hemisphere results in a new three-dimensional elevation model of Antarctica. ICESat repeats its orbital pattern every eight days, allowing the GLAS instrument to measure changes over time in the same location. In order to measure ice sheet mass balance, the satellite's advanced technology is providing data on the critically important third dimension, elevation.

ICESat tracks criss-crossing over Antarctica

Metadata

  • Sensor

    ICESat/GLAS, Terra/MODIS

  • Animation ID

    2745

  • Video ID

    SVS2003-0015

  • Start Timecode

    01:11:45:00

  • End Timecode

    01:13:18:12

  • Animator

    Greg Shirah, Alex Kekesi

  • Studio

    SVS

  • Visualization Date

    2003/05/15

  • Scientist

    Chris Shuman (NASA/GSFC), Jay Zwally (NASA/GSFC)

  • Datasets

    Blue Marble

  • Keywords

    GCMD--Location--Antarctica, Ice, Technology

  • DLESE Subject

    Technology, Cryology

  • Data Date

    Simulated Data

  • Copyright Info

    Canadian Space Agency, RADARSAT International Inc.

  • Animation Type

    Regular