WHAT WE DO


JOINRENEWJOIN

Give a Gift Membership
  

The Planetary Society Blog

By Emily Lakdawalla


Borup Fiord Pass Field Report: Success at last for the satellite imaging

Jul. 10, 2006 | 11:19 EDT | 15:19 UTC
We need your help.
Please donate to support our blog, website, and podcast.
RSS 2.0 News Feed

Bob Pappalardo emailed me this morning to let me know that the EO-1 satellite acquired a "makeup" image of the Borup Fiord Pass field site on July 6, the day the four fieldworkers left the site, and that it finally found a relatively cloudless day! The image is the one farthest to the right below. I thought I'd display the three satellite images acquired so far side-by-side to aid in attempts to match features between them. I believe that all three swaths are close to east-west in their orientation; east is to the top.

EO-1 Hyperion swath across Borup Fiord Pass
June 26
EO-1 Hyperion swath across Borup Fiord Pass
July 1
EO-1 Hyperion swath across Borup Fiord Pass
July 6

I realize now that you actually can see the glacier in the July 1 image, but it's pretty deeply shaded by clouds. I think they are still planning on one more imaging attempt tomorrow -- if that works, I'll be curious to see if we can spot any change in the snow cover.

To help visualize where those swaths are, here's a satellite map for context.
Satellite image of Borup Fiord Pass, Ellesmere Island, Canada
Click to enlarge >
Satellite image of Borup Fiord Pass, Ellesmere Island, Canada
Borup Fiord Pass is a north-south trending valley on Ellesmere Island. Many mountain glaciers spill into the valley from each side. The yellow dot indicates the location of sulfur-rich springs that seep through the ice. Credit: Courtesy of Stephen E. Grasby

Sign up for email updates!
Email address:
(optional) Your name: