Nov. 27, 2007

Grey Hautaluoma
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0668
grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 07-260

BREAKTHROUGH MAP OF ANTARCTICA LAYS GROUND FOR NEW DISCOVERIES

WASHINGTON - A team of researchers from NASA, the U.S. Geological 
Survey, the National Science Foundation and the British Antarctic 
Survey unveiled a newly completed map of Antarctica today that is 
expected to revolutionize research of the continent's frozen 
landscape.

The Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica is a result of NASA's 
state-of-the-art satellite technologies and an example of the 
prominent role NASA continues to play as a world leader in the 
development and flight of Earth-observing satellites. 

The map is a realistic, nearly cloudless satellite view of the 
continent at a resolution 10 times greater than ever before with 
images captured by the NASA-built Landsat 7. With the unprecedented 
ability to see features half the size of a basketball court, the 
mosaic offers the most geographically accurate, true-color, 
high-resolution views of Antarctica to date. 

"This mosaic of images opens up a window to the Antarctic that we just 
haven't had before," said Robert Bindschadler, chief scientist of the 
Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA's Goddard 
Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "It will open new windows of 
opportunity for scientific research as well as enable the public to 
become much more familiar with Antarctica and how scientists use 
imagery in their research. This innovation is like watching 
high-definition TV in living color versus watching the picture on a 
grainy black-and-white television. These scenes don't just give us a 
snapshot, they provide a time-lapse historical record of how 
Antarctica has changed and will enable us to continue to watch 
changes unfold."

Researchers can use the detailed map to better plan scientific 
expeditions. The mosaic's higher resolution gives researchers a 
clearer view over most of the continent to help interpret changes in 
land elevation in hard-to-access areas. Scientists also think the 
true-color mosaic will help geologists better map various rock 
formations and types.

To construct the new Antarctic map, researchers pieced together more 
than a thousand images from three years of Landsat satellite 
observations. The resulting mosaic gives researchers and the public a 
new way to explore Antarctica through a free, public-access Web 
portal. Eight different versions of the full mosaic are available to 
download.

In 1972, the first satellite images of the Antarctic became available 
with the launch of NASA's Earth Resources Technology Satellite (later 
renamed Landsat). The series of Landsat satellites have provided the 
longest, continuous global record of land surface and its historical 
changes in existence. Prior to these satellite views, researchers had 
to rely on airplanes and survey ships to map Antarctica's ice-covered 
terrain. 

Images from the Landsat program, now managed by the U.S. Geological 
Survey, led to more precise and efficient research results as the 
resolution of digital images improved over the years with upgraded 
instruments on each new Earth-observing satellite. 

"We have significantly improved our ability to extract useful 
information from satellites as embodied in this Antarctic mosaic 
project," said Ray Byrnes, liaison for satellite missions at the U.S. 
Geological Survey in Reston, Va. "As technology progressed, so have 
the satellites and their image resolution capability. The first three 
in the Landsat series were limited in comparison to Landsats 4, 5, 
and 7."

Bindschadler, who conceived the project, initiated NASA's collection 
of images of Antarctica for the mosaic project in 1999. He and NASA 
colleagues selected the images that make up the mosaic and developed 
new techniques to interpret the image data tailored to the project. 
The mosaic is made up of about 1,100 images from Landsat 7, nearly 
all of which were captured between 1999 and 2001. The collage 
contains almost no gaps in the landscape, other than a doughnut 
hole-shaped area at the South Pole, and shows virtually no seams. 

"The mosaic represents an important U.S.-U.K. collaboration and is a 
major contribution to the International Polar Year," said Andrew 
Fleming of British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, England. "Over 
60,000 scientists are involved in the global International Polar Year 
initiative to understand our world. I have no doubt that polar 
researchers will find this mosaic, one of the first outcomes of that 
initiative, invaluable for planning science campaigns."

NASA has 14 Earth-observing satellites in orbit with activities that 
have direct benefit to humankind. After NASA develops and tests new 
technologies, the agency transfers activities to other federal 
agencies for vital meteorology and climate satellite services. The 
satellites have helped revolutionize the information that emergency 
officials have to respond to natural disasters like hurricanes and 
wildfires. 

The Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica is now available on the Web at:

http://lima.usgs.gov

For related images and information about LIMA and the interagency team 
on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/lima_press_conf.html  

For educational materials related to the new Antarctic mosaic on the 
Web, visit: 

http://lima.nasa.gov

	
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