OIB once again flew into the good weather that persists east of the Antarctic Peninsula and successfully completed the land ice “Foundation Lakes IS2” mission today. A very smooth mission, clear skies and calm winds. All OIB remote sensing instrumentation reported good data collection (except for another IR imaging spectrometer data gap) for the entire science portion of today’s mission.
We’ll check weather and determine if we can attempt another mission tomorrow.
[Wikipedia source from on-the-plane database… thanks, Rob! /s]
Foundation Ice Stream is a major ice stream in Antarctica’s Pensacola Mountains. The ice stream drains northward for 150 miles (240 km) along the west side of the Patuxent Range and the Neptune Range to enter the Ronne Ice Shelf westward of Dufek Massif. The United States Geological Survey mapped the stream from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1956–66. The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names named the stream in recognition of the National Science Foundation, which provided major support to the U.S. Antarctic Research Program during this period.
Wide view of today’s flight lines
Detailed view of today’s flight path
View of the Pensacola Mountains and crevasses
View of the Pensacola Mountains and crevasses
View of the Pensacola Mountains and crevasses
Snow covered crevasses
Snow covered crevasses
Snow covered crevasses
View of the Pensacola Mountains and crevasses
ATM T6 wide scan elevation plot of the gently undulating surface (4 meter full scale)