Dryden Home > Collections > Photo Home > DC-8 > Photo # ED04-0056-085 |
Pilot Bill Brockett (left) and Chilean Air Force Captain Saez with school children in the cockpit of NASA Dryden's DC-8 flying laboratory. |
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Photo Number: | ED04-0056-085 |
Photo Date: | March 10, 2004 |
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Formats: | 568x480 JPEG Image (195 KBytes) 1212x1024 JPEG Image (838 KBytes) 2841x2400 JPEG Image (3986 KBytes) |
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Photo Description: |
Pilot Bill Brockett (left) and Chilean Air Force Captain Saez with school children in the cockpit of NASA Dryden's DC-8 flying laboratory. Brockett explained NASA's AirSAR 2004 mission in Chile. AirSAR 2004 is a three-week expedition by an international team of scientists that uses an all-weather imaging tool, called the Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AirSAR) which is located onboard NASA's DC-8 airborne laboratory.
Scientists from many parts of the world including NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory are combining ground research done in several areas in Central and South America with NASA's AirSAR technology to improve and expand on the quality of research they are able to conduct. In South America and Antarctica, AirSAR collected imagery and data to help determine the contribution of Southern Hemisphere glaciers to sea level rise due to climate change. In Patagonia, researchers found this contribution had more than doubled from 1995 to 2000, compared to the previous 25 years. AirSAR data will make it possible to determine whether that trend is continuing or accelerating. AirSAR will also provide reliable information on ice shelf thickness to measure the contribution of the glaciers to sea level. |
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Project Description: |
AirSAR collects multi-frequency and multi-polarization radar data for a variety of science applications. It also acquires data in interferometric modes, providing topographic information (cross-track mode) or ocean current information (along-track interferometry). This March 2004 deployment was planned to:
During the deployment data is collected over Central and South America and Antarctica. During the approximately 100 flight hours, AirSAR is expected to acquire polarimetric and/or interferometric data along a 20,000 km track, or about 200,000 sq. km of data over 40 sites for 30 scientists. AirSAR collects data related to the following NASA Code YS science programs:
NASA used a DC-8 aircraft as a flying science laboratory. The platform aircraft, was based at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., collected data for many experiments in support of scientific projects serving the world scientific community. Included in this community were NASA, federal, state, academic and foreign investigators. Data gathered by the DC-8 at flight altitude and by remote sensing has been used for scientific studies in archeology, ecology, geography, hydrology, meteorology, oceanography, volcanology, atmospheric chemistry, soil science and biology. |
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NASA Photo by: | Jim Ross |
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Keywords: | DC-8, Airborne Science, AirSAR, Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar, South America, Chile, Punta Arenas |
Dryden Home > Collections > Photo Home > DC-8 > Photo # ED04-0056-085 |
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