Researchers with NASA’s Operation IceBridge recently completed a five-week field campaign based out of Punta Arenas, Chile. From Oct. 12 to Nov. 8, IceBridge researchers gathered valuable information on land and sea ice during its 16 science missions over Antarctica. During this year’s Antarctic campaign—the fourth in the mission’s history—IceBridge scientists added on to existing sea ice elevation data, surveyed new areas of the Antarctic ice sheet and reached out to students, teachers and the public.

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An 11-hour Operation IceBridge mission over Antarctica is not a casual undertaking. The mission planning starts months before as scientists weigh competing scientific objectives in order to design flights with the highest science value possible. And before making the actual journey, the IceBridge team has to carefully evaluate up-to-the-minute weather models to ensure success.

Read more at NASA.gov

NASA’s Operation IceBridge closed out its 2012 Antarctic season with two surveys of Antarctic glaciers and two long-awaited flights over sea ice in the Weddell Sea. These four flights bring the airborne science campaign to a successful end with a total of 16 science missions and a total mileage equivalent to more than three times around the Earth’s equator. In addition, researchers on the DC-8 answered questions from students in several U.S. states and Chile by text chat through the aircraft’s communication system.

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With the end of the 2012 Antarctic campaign on the horizon, IceBridge flew land ice surveys on Oct. 28 and Nov. 1 that will further expand our knowledge of the area. In addition, the Nov. 1 flight featured a live Twitter event and saw visitors from the U.S. Embassy in Santiago, two Punta Arenas-area schools, a Chilean newspaper and the United States Antarctic Program’s icebreaking research vessel the Nathaniel B. Palmer.

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