NASA Completes Radar Study Of Icelandic Glacier Winter Movement | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-06.02.25

Airborne-NextGen-06.03.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.04.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-06.05.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.06.25

Wed, Feb 12, 2014

NASA Completes Radar Study Of Icelandic Glacier Winter Movement

C-20A Aircraft Flew Four Missions From Keflavik International Airport

The cold of an Icelandic winter did not stop one NASA science aircraft from completing a mission to map glaciers on the island during the past week. NASA's C-20A, based at the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, CA, flew four radar missions from Keflavik International Airport near Reykjavik, Iceland.

The aircraft carries a precision NASA synthetic aperture radar, developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, that uses a technique called interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) to detect and measure very subtle deformations in Earth's surface.

The Icelandic mission is designed to study how movement of the glaciers in winter differs from their movement in summer when there is considerable meltwater that reaches the bed of the glacier, according to principal investigator Mark Simons, a professor of geophysics at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "This study will help scientists better understand the basic processes that control the fate of glaciers as climate changes. In so doing, this study contributes to our understanding of glacier behavior world wide and will aid in improving our estimates of rising sea levels," said Simons. "We all recognize that the techniques being developed in this project both observationally and in terms of modeling should have significant impact on studies of the cryosphere around the globe, as well as on our planning for a future U.S. L-band radar satellite," he added.

Brent Minchew, a Caltech graduate student, is assisting Simons in the Icelandic glacier research. The Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) is installed in a specialized pod mounted on the belly of NASA's aircraft. Each of the four flights, totaling more than 26 hours, was flown over the same path as a summer 2012 study of surface ice on glaciers.

Prior to the first science mission being flown Jan. 31, the C-20A had to be de-iced after being parked outside overnight due to lack of hangar space. When the crew arrived to prepare for flight, the "aircraft looked remarkably like a glazed donut," quipped NASA C-20A project manager John McGrath.

The C-20A, which is a military version of the civilian Gulfstream III business aircraft, and its specialized equipment arrived back in the U.S. Feb. 6.

(Images provided by NASA. Top: The flight crew prepares to board NASA's C-20A carrying the UAVSAR radar pod on a snowy ramp at Buffalo Niagara International Airport in Buffalo, N.Y. during a stopover returning from Iceland following the winter 2014 Icelandic glacier radar imaging mission. Bottom: This view of the Langjökull Ice Cap was captured from the cockpit of NASA's C-20A research aircraft on Feb. 4, 2013 during a synthetic aperture radar imaging mission over Iceland.)

FMI: www.nasa.gov

Advertisement

More News

Citation Operators Get Another Flight Data Connection for QA

LinxUs System Adds Capabilities for Data-Driven Operators Textron Aviation announced another option for operators processing their post-flight data, adding interoperability with GE>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (06.01.25)

Aero Linx: The de Havilland Moth Club Ltd The de Havilland Moth Club evolved from a belief that an association of owners and operators of Moth aeroplanes should be formed to create>[...]

NTSB Final Report: Bellanca 8GCBC

(Pilot) Inadvertently Applied Excessive Braking Action, And The Airplane Nosed Over Analysis: The pilot reported that, while landing at a remote, rough and uneven airstrip in a tai>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (06.01.25)

“MCADT is committed to rapidly integrating armed first-person view drones into the FMF, enhancing small-unit lethality and providing organic capabilities that warfighters cur>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: High-Speed Match-up - Venom and GE Rebirth A Legend

From 2017 (YouTube Edition): Major Engine Supplier Joins Forces With Small Aircraft Manufacturer… GE recently made an agreement with Venom Aircraft to supply engines for the>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC