Author: Kirsty Tinto

Dealing with Mother Nature

by | 5.9.2011 at 10:33am | 1 Comment
Code Charlie event this week in Thule, Greenland (photo credit E. Renaud, Sanders)

Working in the poles we are constantly reminded of our dependence on meteorology, and this project has dealt us a variety of different weather considerations. The most obvious is the weather we experience at the base. Storm season in Thule lasts from the 15th of September to the 14th of May; in other words encompassing [...]

Transporting Ice From Greenland’s Deep Interior

by | 5.6.2011 at 10:43pm
The fast streaming ice of North East Glacier reaching deep into the interior of Greenland (Image of velocity by I. Joughin, U. of Washington, NSIDC)

The fast streaming ice of North East Glacier (upper right on image) reaching deep into the interior of Greenland (Image of velocity by I. Joughin, U. of Washington, NSIDC) The North East Ice Stream is a fast-flowing glacier transporting ice from deep in the interior of the Greenland Ice Sheet out to the coast (see [...]

Petermann Glacier: At a glacial pace?

by | 5.1.2011 at 1:01pm
Small glacier North of Thule (photo K. Tinto)

We are beginning our focus on the land based ice of northern Greenland. Flying out of Thule places us close to Petermann Glacier situated in Greenland’s northwest corner. The focus of our first flight of this phase of the project (the overall 29th flight of the season!) is Petermann Glacier. Perhaps Greenland’s most newsworthy glacier [...]

It takes a lot of instruments to collect ice measurements!

by | 4.12.2011 at 2:09pm
Satellite image of magnetics with the IceBridge hi-res image lines running diagonally across the image (background magnetics image from B. Csatho)

The Operation IceBridge (OIB) mission is a truly collaborative project with several agencies and multiple instruments involved in collecting independent measurements. The data is then analyzed concurrently to develop an understanding of the ice processes underway. The measurement of sea ice is an excellent example of how multiple methods of measurement are needed to collect [...]

Flying Over the Arctic, Collecting Data and Enjoying the View

by | 3.27.2011 at 2:16pm
Aurora Borealis as seen in a five second exposure over the port wing of the NASA P3.  Also visible is the 22° ATM laser track at the bottom of the image. (Photo Brian Moses)

By Brian Moses This past week, Operation IceBridge undertook a detailed survey of the ICEX camp, situated on the ice sheet north of Alaska. This complex 3 day mission involves a transit to Fairbanks, AK over the top of the world, refueling in Fairbanks and flying the survey on day two, and a low-altitude nighttime [...]

IceBridge Team Settles in the North

by | 3.18.2011 at 3:16pm
Magnetometer (stinger) on the tail of the P3 (photo by K. Tinto)

Operation IceBridge has returned to the Arctic for a second Greenland season collecting critical measurements of Arctic sea ice cover and thickness and Greenland’s coastal outlet glaciers. Traveling on a DC8 outfitted as a cargo plane with only 6 rows of seats, the team flew from Baltimore MD to Thule in northern Greenland. The workhorse [...]

The Multiple Faces of Antarctic Ice

by | 11.20.2010 at 10:33am
Shadow of the DC-8 on Antarctic ice

Kirsty Tinto joins Operation IceBridge on two flights over the Amundsen Sea and past Thwaites Glacier to survey the Getz and the Dotson ice shelves.

Measuring the Ice From a Bird’s Eye View!

by | 10.22.2010 at 5:17pm
DC-8 plane outfitted for measuring the ice

Operation IceBridge Antarctica ramps up for a second year of ice surveys. Originating from Chile, a series of airborne missions will be flown almost daily from the airbase in Punta Arenas.