Transcripts of IceBridge_Overview_H264



[music] At the beginning of the 21st Century, a growing scientific sensitivity to changes in Earth's climate motivated several ambitious research initiatives. Among other projects, NASA launched a satellite called ICESat, principally designed to measure changes in ice volume at the planet's poles. But like all things ICESat didn't last forever. That's why NASA is working on a second generation of ICESat, designed not only to pick up where the first one left off, but advance the quality and quantity of data with more contemporary technology. But while waiting for the new spacecraft to blast off researchers were concerned they'd miss vital information about changing ice. That's why NASA initiated Operation IceBridge And that's how we find ourself here in a one-of-a-kind flying laboratory a thousand feet above the surface of Antarctica. IceBridge is a multi-year mission to collect data from the northern and southern icecaps. Using aircraft to fly over regions measured by the original ICESat, experts are making new measurements bridging the gap between ICESat and ICESat-2 That way, scientists will have an accurate and above-all consistent record of exactly how Earth's ice inventory is changing over time. And knowing that is a major step in understanding much broader implications about climate change. 

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