Operation Icebridge Studies Changes in Greenland's Helheim Glacier
- Visualizations by:
- Greg Shirah
- View full credits
The first visualization shows how the scanner on the aircraft acquired the data, building up a representation of the 3d laser scanned points as we go. Once the calving front from 1998 is revealed, the 2013 data is faded in showing the differences between the years. The dots are colored initially by absolute height with reds higher and blues lower; after the 2013 data is added, the dot colors change to a localized scheme with reds higher than nearby points and blues lower than nearby points. ATM data is added at the end for some context.
The second visualization shows the DMS data with ATM data at the 2013 calving front. The DMS data is overlayed onto photogrametrically determined altitudes which don't precisely correspond to the ATM data. The heights of the ATM data are the 'true' heights.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
Visualizer
- Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
Scientist
- Michael Studinger (NASA/GSFC)
Producer
- Jefferson Beck (KBRwyle)
Technical support
- Ian Jones (ADNET)
- Laurence Schuler (ADNET)
Missions
This visualization is related to the following missions:Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Datasets used in this visualization
DMS Photogrammetry (Collected with the Digital Mapping System sensor)
Icebridge L1B Elevation and Return Strength, Version 2 (2013 data) (Collected with the ATM sensor)
Dataset can be found at: https://nsidc.org/data/docs/daac/icebridge/ilatm1b/
See more visualizations using this data setPre-Icebridge L1B Qfit Elevation and Return Strength, Version 1 (1998 data) (Collected with the ATM sensor)
Dataset can be found at: http://nsidc.org/data/BLATM1B/versions/1
See more visualizations using this data setNote: 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.
Related pages
Operation IceBridge Tracks over the Helheim Glacier in Greenland
Aug. 30, 2016, 8 p.m.
Read moreComposited version of Helheim OIB tracks visualization || Operation Ice Bridge (OIB) has been flying annual airborne missions over the Helheim Glacier in Greenland since 1997. These missions record the elevation of the glacier along a long, thin track near the middle of the glacier. This record of heights helps scientists see how the glacier has changed over the years.This visualization shows OIB tracks from each year in sequence. The camera then moves to the side to compare the ice profiles on a graph. The track profiles are shown to scale (i.e., no exaggeration) until they are compared on the graph where they are exaggerated 10 times to help see the changes.The initial camera for this animation matches the end of the Helheim visualization (#4348).Image layers are included for each track and the graph for those wishing to create different composites. || OIB track layers from 1997 to 2015 arranged next to each other || 1997 OIB track layer || 1998 OIB track layer || 2001 OIB track layer || 2003 OIB track layer || 2005 OIB track layer || 2006 OIB track layer || 2007 OIB track layer || 2008 OIB track layer || 2009 OIB track layer || 2010 OIB track layer || 2011 OIB track layer || 2012 OIB track layer || 2013 OIB track layer || 2016 OIB track layer || 2015 OIB track layer || Helheim Radarsat background layer || x-axis layer || graph layer || y-axis layer || graph mask layer
NASA Views Laser Landscapes of Helheim Glacier
July 28, 2017, 9 a.m.
Read moreComplete transcript available. || What if you could measure a glacier in such detail that you could visualize its surface in 3D? And what if you could compare that view with data from one, two, even 20 years ago? NASA airborne campaigns like Operation IceBridge have been measuring Greenland and Antarctica’s glaciers and ice sheets with a range of instruments for years, including radar, lasers, and high resolution cameras, in order to understand just how our planet’s ice is changing. This video shows in unprecedented detail how Greenland’s massive Helheim Glacier has changed over 20 years, using data from instruments like the Airborne Topographic Mapper laser altimeter and the Digital Mapping System cameras, which fly every year on IceBridge missions, and satellite data form the Canadian Space Agency’s Radarsat Satellite. IceBridge plans to return to Helheim again in 2018 to carry on its annual survey.