The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) (described in the October 2, 1998 Scout Report) provides the Antarctic Ice Velocity Data set. This set contains large satellite image maps along with latitude, longitude, speed, bearing, and error ranges data. Data for this set is available via FTP.

"ICESat (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite) is the benchmark Earth Observing System mission for measuring ice sheet mass balance, cloud and aerosol heights, as well as land topography and vegetation characteristics." Visitors can learn how the data being collected can assist in answering many climatic questions including the impacts ice sheets can have on sea level and the affects of polar...

The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has released online ice thickness and surface elevation data for the Ross Ice Sheet of Western Antarctica. This data is a result of the Corridor aerogeophysics of the Southeastern Ross Transect Zone (CASERTZ) experiments of the 1990s. According to NSDIC, "the CASERTZ geophysical surveys were aimed at understanding geological controls on ice streams of...

Last week, scientists released images from the first high-resolution radar map of Antarctica. Taken over a period of eighteen days in 1997 by a NASA-launched Canadian satellite called RADARSAT, the images have revealed a number of amazing features never seen before. The most important of these is a complex network of ice streams, huge rivers of ice that move ice and snow from the continent's...

In a 1997 collaborative effort, NASA launched the Canadian Space Agency's RADARSAT Satellite which spent eighteen days over the Southern Hemisphere forming the first high-resolution radar maps of the Antarctic. RADARSAT's unusual capabilities make it possible to capture data even through darkness, clouds, and fog. Unveiled to the public on October 18, 1999, the new maps are so clear and detailed...