Tabatha Thompson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-3895
Lynn Chandler
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-2806
RELEASE: 07-59
NASA AND USGS PRODUCE MOST DETAILED SATELLITE VIEWS OF ANTARCTICA
GREENBELT, Md. - Researchers from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS), Golden, Colo., have woven together more than a thousand
images from the Landsat 7 satellite to create the most detailed,
high-resolution map ever produced of Antarctica. The Landsat Image
Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA) offers views of the coldest continent on
Earth in 10 times greater detail than previously possible.
"These images give us incredibly detailed views of the Antarctic ice
sheet surface and serve as maps for many locations that have never
been mapped before," said Robert Bindschadler, chief scientist of the
Laboratory for Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences at NASA's Goddard
Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Bindschadler oversaw the
selection of the scenes used to create the mosaic.
Researchers at NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the British
Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, England, have launched a Web site with
support from the National Science Foundation to offer public access
to the image mosaic. This site contains original images and close-ups
of various areas of Antarctica, all available for download. The
research group will continue to release images through this summer.
"The resolution sensitivity of the Landsat sensor is well beyond that
of even the most state-of-the-art digital camera," Bindschadler said.
"It's able to record subtle variations in the ice sheet's surface
that tell us more about ice sheet features, the flow of the ice sheet
and changes in the ice sheet's surface."
According to Bindschadler, researchers will have special interest in
the new ability to zoom in on areas like Antarctica's dry valleys
that lie between the ice sheets. To date, only aerial images of these
locations were possible. The carefully collaged images that compose
LIMA now provide clear, high-resolution images.
Through special processing of images captured by Landsat 7's Enhanced
Thematic Mapper Plus sensor, scientists were able to produce a true
color, nearly cloud-free view of Antarctica. For the process,
researchers use specialized software to stack several images of
various Antarctic locations to create one larger image. The
researchers also arranged the images on top of one another in a
sequence that allows clear views to the surface, removing the effects
of clouds contained in some images.
"Having this capability is quite exciting. Using the Web portal,
scientists as well as students, teachers and others will be able to
zoom in to a specific Antarctic region and adjust for various levels
of detail," said Bindschadler. "This will be like having a room with
a tremendous view, a detailed view from space aboard Landsat to peer
down as if you were just above the ice sheet's surface."
LIMA is one of more than 228 projects funded in conjunction with the
International Polar Year, an initiative 63 cooperating countries
launched in March to improve scientific understanding of Earth's
polar regions.
The U.S. Geological Survey manages the NASA-designed Earth-observing
satellites of the Landsat Program, first launched in 1972. During the
past three decades, Landsat sensors have captured two million
high-resolution digital photographs of Earth's continents and
surrounding coastal regions, enabling scientists to study various
aspects of the planet.
To view LIMA images on the Antarctic Portal, visit:
For more information about Landsat, visit:
For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
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