2008 EARTH SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES |
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Tape Title | Record ID | Date Produced | TRT: |
Synopsis |
| NASA IMAGES SHOW RECENT INCREASE IN ARCTIC SEA ICE | G08-HD136 | 9/15/08 | 6:31 | Arctic sea ice coverage appears to have reached its lowest extent for the year and the second-lowest amount recorded since the dawn of the satellite era, according to observations from the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
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TAPE CONTENTS: |
| ITEM (1): Daily Arctic sea ice from AMSR-E - The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) is a high-resolution passive microwave Instrument on NASA’s Aqua satellite. AMSR-E provides a remarkably clear view of sea ice dynamics in greater detail than has ever been seen before. Researchers use this information to study polar bear habitats, plan expeditions to the ice, and to study the interactions between the ocean and sea ice from season to season. This data visualization shows Arctic sea ice from July 1 to Sept. 10, 2008.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (2): Daily Arctic sea ice from SSM/I - Another view of daily Arctic sea ice comes from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) sensor on the U.S. Defense Meteorological Space Program (DMSP) satellites. The following visualization shows sea ice each day from July 1 to Sept.ember 8, 2008.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (3): Arctic sea ice minimum, 1979-2007 - At the end of each summer, the sea ice cover reaches its minimum extent and the ice that remains is called the perennial ice cover, which consists mainly of thick multi-year ice floes. The area of the perennial ice has been steadily decreasing since the satellite record began in 1979, at a rate of about 10% per decade. But the 2007 minimum, reached around Sept. 14, is far below the previous record made in 2005 and is about 38% lower than the climatological average. This data visualization shows the annual sea ice minimum from 1979 through 2007.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (4): Antarctic sea ice 1979-2008 - Sea ice differs between the Arctic and Antarctic, primarily because of their different geography. Antarctica is a land mass surrounded by open ocean, allowing sea ice to move more freely as it forms. But like the Arctic, near the end of each southern hemisphere summer (usually in February), the Antarctic sea ice reaches its minimum extent. This visualization shows Antarctic sea ice minima from 1979 through 2008.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (5): Ice albedo feedback
- Polar ice reflects light from the sun. As this ice begins to melt, less sunlight gets reflected into space. It is instead absorbed into the oceans and land, raising the overall temperature, and fueling further melting. This results in a positive feedback loop called ice albedo feedback, which causes the loss of the sea ice to be self-compounding. The more it disappears, the more likely it is to continue to disappear.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (6): NASA’s Earth Observing System - NASA has been observing sea ice from space since the 1970s, beginning with the Electricallly Scanning Microwave Radiometer (ESMR), Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SSMR) and Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) sensors on the U.S. Defense Meteorological Space Program (DMSP) satellites, and now with the AMSR-E instrument on NASA’s Earth Observing System/Aqua satellite. Data collected by these instruments have been instrumental in shaping public policy and international perspectives on the Earth’s polar regions.
Courtesy: NASA
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Earth Science Gallery