Earth  ID: 3889

Pine Island Glacier Ice Flows and Elevation Change

Visualizations by Cindy Starr Released on November 28, 2011
This animation shows glacier changes detected by ATM, ICESat and ice bridge data in the highly dynamic Pine Island Glacier. We know that ice speeds in this area have increased dramatically from the late 1990s to the present as the ice shelves in this area have thinned and the bottom of the ice has lost contact with the bed beneath. As the ice has accelerated, ice upstream of the coast must be stretched more vigorously, causing it to thin. NASA-sponsored aircraft missions first measured the ice surface height in this region in 2002, followed by ICESat data between 2002 and 2009. Ice Bridge aircraft have measured further surface heights in 2009 and 2010, and these measurements continue today. Integrating these altimetry sources allows us to estimate surface height changes throughout the drainage regions of the most important glaciers in the region. We see large and accelerating elevation changes extending inland from the coast on Pine Island glacier shown centered here. The changes on Pine Island mark these as potential continuing sources of ice to the sea, and has been surveyed in 2011 by Ice Bridge aircraft and targeted for repeat measurements in coming years.
Download Options
Animation showing ice velocity and elevation change with dates, labels and colorbars.
Download Options
The above animation without the title, date and colorbar overlay
Download Options
A still image showing velocity vectors to represent the average flow of the ice between 1994 and 1996. See the ice velocity colorbar below.
Download Options
A still image showing velocity vectors to represent the flow of the ice movement in 2008. See the ice velocity colorbar below.
Download Options
Image showing the surface height change from 2002 to 2011. See the elevation change colorbar below.
Download Options
The label, date and colorbar overlay with transparency

Download Options
The color bar used to show the ice velocity vector flows
Download Options
The color bar used to show the change in elevation

Visualization Credits

Cindy Starr (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Visualizer
Jefferson Beck (USRA): Producer
Benjamin E. Smith (University of Washington Applied Physics Lab Polar Science Center): Scientist
James W. Williams (GST): Project Support
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3889

Missions:
Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat)
Landsat

Data Used:
Advanced Land Observation System (ALOS)/Phased-Array Synthetic-Aperture Radar (PALSAR)/L-band frequency (1.27 GHz) radar
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
view all stories where this data set is used
ERS-1 and ERS-2/SAR/Differential Interferometry
European Space Agency
view all stories where this data set is used
Pre-IceBridge/LVIS/L2 Geolocated Ground Elevation and Return Energy Quartiles also referred to as: BLVIS2
NASA
view all stories where this data set is used
Pre-IceBridge/ATM/L2 Icessn Elevation, Slope, and Roughness
NASA
view all stories where this data set is used
IceBridge/ATM/L2 Icessn Elevation, Slope, and Roughness
NASA
view all stories where this data set is used
ICESat/GLAS/L2 Global Land Surface Altimetry Data also referred to as: GLA14
NASA
view all stories where this data set is used
Landsat-7/ETM+/Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica also referred to as: LIMA
Mosaic - NASA/GSFC, British Antarctic Survey, USGS EROS Data Center
Mosaicing to avoid clouds produced a high quality, nearly cloud-free benchmark data set of Antarctica for the International Polar Year from images collected primarily during 1999-2003.
view all stories where this data set is used
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

Keywords:
DLESE >> Cryology
SVS >> HDTV
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Snow/Ice
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Hydrosphere >> Snow/Ice
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Glaciers/Ice Sheets >> Glacier Elevation/Ice Sheet Elevation
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Glaciers/Ice Sheets >> Glacier Motion/Ice Sheet Motion
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Glaciers/Ice Sheets >> Glacier Thickness/Ice Sheet Thickness
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Glaciers/Ice Sheets >> Glaciers
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Glaciers/Ice Sheets >> Ice Sheets
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Snow/Ice >> Ice Depth/Thickness
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Snow/Ice >> Ice Motion
SVS >> Hyperwall
NASA Science >> Earth
SVS >> Presentation

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0