NASA's IceBridge Wraps Up Its Arctic Expedition

Operation IceBridge is on the brink of completion and the successful mission will see a considerable addition to the dataset that started with NASA's ICESat in 2003. IceBridge has collected data on sea ice, mapped sub-ice bedrock and Greenland's glaciers through airborne missions that were carried out of Thule Air Base. Many scientists are intrigued by the changing state of the Arctic sea ice. The interest is fueled by the concern towards the constantly decreasing thickness of the ice area, which stooped down to a record-breaking minimum last year. The gathered data from the measurements will be used to build a "quick look product" to forecast sea ice extent. The mission made sure to amass data by surveying unexplored area as well as previously measured areas to bolster existing records.

As one mission comes to an end, NASA prepares for another. The next campaign focuses on the Antarctic region though a final decision is yet to be made.

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