Today we flew the Umanaq B high-priority mission. This flight is quite scenic in that it surveys two lines over Disko Island, takes a pass over the Nuussuaq Peninsula, and has some coastal lines in the Umanaq region. To add to it, we saw a good bit of melt on the surface, which formed bright-blue melt ponds scattered throughout the flight. There were a few bumps on the coastal-most lines (which temporarily knocked out the ATM narrow-scan instrument), but smoothed out as we worked our way inland. With no clouds over the science targets, it was a very successful mission.
The aircraft and science instruments are ready to fly our final science flight tomorrow, if the weather cooperates. On Friday, we will host a congressional delegation from the US House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, who will be in the area. And if all goes according to schedule, we will pack up and head home on Saturday to conclude the 2017 Spring IceBridge deployment.
Attached are some screenshots from the forward camera, a nadir photograph of a melt pond (from CAMBOT), and a plot of the surface temperatures from today’s flight (from the KT19 infrared sensor).