Nov 27 2007
From The Space Library
A team of researchers comprising members from NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, the NSF, and the British Antarctic Survey unveiled a new map of Antarctica—the Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica—that scientists expected would revolutionize the study of the continent’s frozen landscape. The researchers pieced together more than 1,000 images, primarily selected from the Landsat observations of 1999-2001. The result was a realistic, nearly cloudless satellite view of Antarctica at a resolution 10 times greater than that of any previous image captured by Landsat 7. Robert A. Bindschadler, Chief Scientist of the Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA’s GSFC in Greenbelt, Maryland, explained that the map did not provide a mere snapshot of the continent, but rather a time-lapse historical record of how Antarctica had changed. The map would also enable scientists to observe changes unfold. Scientists anticipated that, among its uses, the map would help with planning scientific expeditions, because its higher resolution would enable researchers to interpret changes in land elevation in hard-to-access areas.
NASA, “Breakthrough Map of Antarctica Lays Ground for New Discoveries,” news release 07-260, 27 November 2007, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/nov/HQ_07260_New_Landsat_Map.html (accessed 20 October 2010); Paul Tighe for Bloomberg, “Antarctica Map from Satellite Images Aids Scientists, NASA Says,” 28 November 2007.
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