Press Releases & Feature Stories Archive - Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory

Operation IceBridge, ICESat-2 Join Forces To Survey Antarctica

10.12.2018

NASA’s decade-long airborne survey of polar ice, Operation IceBridge, is once again probing Antarctica, but this year is different: it is the first time that the IceBridge team and instruments survey the frozen continent while NASA’s brand-new ICESat-2 studies it from space.

ICESat-2 Laser Fires for 1st Time, Measures Antarctic Height

10.03.2018

With each of its 10,000 pulses per second, the laser instrument aboard NASA's ICESat-2 is sending 300 trillion green photons of light to the ground and detecting the few that return: the method it uses to measure Earth’s changing ice. By the morning of Oct. 3, ICESat-2 returned its first height measurements across the Antarctic ice sheet.

2018 Arctic Summertime Sea Ice Minimum Extent Tied for Sixth Lowest on Record

09.27.2018

Arctic sea ice likely reached its 2018 lowest extent on Sept. 19 and again on Sept. 23, according to NASA and the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder.

NASA, ULA Launch Mission to Track Earth's Changing Ice

09.15.2018

NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) successfully launched from California at 9:02 a.m. EDT Saturday, embarking on its mission to measure the ice of Earth’s frozen reaches with unprecedented accuracy.

Beached Bergs in Alaska

09.10.2018

Glaciers shed icebergs throughout summer, and the icy bodies collect at the beach.

ICESat-2 Scientists to Investigate Icy Mysteries

09.07.2018

Scientists with the ICESat-2 mission are already thinking beyond the mission's key objectives, ready to use the detailed height data to investigate Earth's frozen reaches.

NASA Television to Air Launch of Global Ice-Measuring Satellite

09.04.2018

NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2), a mission to measure the changing height of Earth's ice, is scheduled to launch Saturday, Sept. 15, with a 40-minute window opening at 8:46 a.m. EDT (5:46 a.m. PDT).

Counting on NASA's ICESat-2

08.28.2018

NASA is about to launch the agency’s most advanced laser instrument of its kind into space.

NASA Launching Advanced Laser to Measure Earth’s Changing Ice

08.22.2018

Next month, NASA will launch into space the most advanced laser instrument of its kind, beginning a mission to measure – in unprecedented detail – changes in the heights of Earth’s polar ice.

NASA to Host Media Briefing on New Ice-Monitoring Mission

08.17.2018

NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Aug. 22, to discuss the upcoming launch of the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat-2).

NASA Invites Media to View Launch of ICESat-2 from West Coast

08.07.2018

Media accreditation is open for the launch of NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 15, with a 40-minute window opening at 8:46 a.m. EDT.

NASA Goddard’s Science Jamboree Connects Disciplines and Interns

07.26.2018

The Goddard Science Jamboree provides an opportunity for interns and senior scientists alike to learn more about the science happening in other disciplines in one room.

Iceberg Towers Over Greenland Village

07.23.2018

In July 2018, an iceberg weighing 11 million tons parked just offshore of Innaarsuit, a small island village in northwestern Greenland.

$The left image shows Iceberg A-68 on July 30, 2017, soon after it broke away from the shelf and then fractured into two pieces known as A-68A and A-68B. The right image shows the same area on July 1, 2018. Both images are false-color, acquired with the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) on Landsat 8.$

One Year Adrift, but Not Far

07.16.2018

In July 2017, a huge iceberg dramatically broke away from the Larsen C Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula. But the aftermath has been a bit more drawn-out, as the berg hasn’t moved very far.

ICESat-2 Lasers Pass Final Ground Test

07.09.2018

The next time lasers fire from NASA’s Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2, the spacecraft will be orbiting hundreds of miles above Earth and beginning its mission.

Emilia (Eastern Pacific Ocean)

06.29.2018

NASA infrared data reveals Tropical Storm Emilia is strengthening.

Ramp-Up in Antarctic Ice Loss Speeds Sea Level Rise

06.13.2018

ce losses from Antarctica have tripled since 2012, increasing global sea levels by 0.12 inch (3 millimeters) in that timeframe alone, according to a major new international climate assessment.

NASA’s ICESat-2 Arrives at Launch Site

06.13.2018

NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Tuesday, June 12, three months before its scheduled launch.

Dirty, Crevassed Glaciers in Alaska

06.09.2018

Over the years, scientists have captured spectacular photographs while mapping ice during NASA’s Operation IceBridge mission.

When Land Ice Meets Sea Ice

05.13.2018

IceBridge scientists photograph icebergs encased in broken sea ice.

NASA Completes Survey Flights to Map Arctic Ice

05.11.2018

Operation IceBridge, NASA’s longest-running airborne mission to monitor polar ice change, concluded this year’s springtime survey of Arctic sea and land ice on May 2.

NASA Scientist to Discuss 'Mapping the Blue Marble: Using Space-Based Observations for Improved Global Water Security and Sustainability' at Library of Congress Lecture

05.08.2018

The public is invited to a free talk called 'Mapping the Blue Marble: Using Space-Based Observations for Improved Global Water Security and Sustainability,' with Dr. John Bolten.