New Satellite Map May Revolutionise Antarctic Research

Written by Susanne Moen Stephansen, journalist

Published: 02.01.2008

satelittbilde Antarktis ingress (Ingressbilde)

1100 satellite images captured by NASA have been pieced together to a highly detailed, crystal-clear map of Antarctica. The map is available on the Internet, to the benefit of researchers as well as the general public.

As the Norwegian-American Traverse slowly and steadily makes its way into largely unknown and frozen Antarctic territory on its research expedition, the rest of us may now explore Antarctica on the Internet. This was made possible by NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Science Foundation and the British Antarctic Survey.

Foto: NASA/LIMA
Around 1100 images of Antarctica were captured by NASA's Landsat 7 satellite and scientists pieced them together to form a complete map of the Earth's coldest, windiest, highest and driest continent - a continent with a surface area 40 times greater than Norway. The images can be explored through a web portal and eight different versions of the mosaics can be downloaded, at no charge. According to NASA the resolution of these images is ten times greater than any previous pictures of Antarctica.

According to NASA's web site, "the mosaic offers the most geographically accurate, true-color, high-resolution views of Antarctica possible."

Free download
The Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA) is the name of the two-year project, which is a part of the International Polar Year. On the web site, the general public and researchers alike may navigate their way around the map and download images on their computers.

The address is: http://lima.usgs.gov/

"This mosaic of images opens up a window to the Antarctic that we just haven't had before," said Robert Bindschadler, chief scientist of the Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA.

The maps will enable scientists to better plan their expeditions. The maps may also be used to monitor changes in the ice shelves, a key factor in climate research, and geologists may use them to map different rock formations more accurately.

Major contribution to the IPY
"The mosaic represents an important U.S.-U.K. collaboration and is a major contribution to the International Polar Year," said Andrew Fleming of British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, England.

"Over 60,000 scientists are involved in the global International Polar Year initiative to understand our world. I have no doubt that polar researchers will find this mosaic, one of the first outcomes of that initiative, invaluable for planning science campaigns."

Foto: NASA/LIMA

Last updated: 24.04.2008

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