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Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 11:10:35 -0700
From: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: 'Cool' Science: JPL Observes International Polar Year

'Cool' Science: JPL Observes International Polar Year

Vast, yet remote; frigid, yet teeming with life; stark and barren, yet serenely 
beautiful-
these are just a few of the contradictions of Earth's polar regions. Within 
their frozen
confines lie secrets -- clues scientists believe can help unravel some of the 
mysteries that
drive Earth's climate. That's because Earth's poles are sensitive barometers to 
climate
change. They react quickly to a warmer environment, and the effects of these 
reactions
are felt on a global scale.

In the past 125 years, scientists have coordinated three international 
expeditions to study
the poles: in 1882, 1932 and 1957. The 1882-83 polar year led to the 
establishment of a
series of Arctic weather stations. The 1932-33 International Polar Year 
expanded studies
of the Arctic's meteorology and upper atmosphere, and included the second 
Antarctic
expedition by Admiral Richard E. Byrd, conducted using both aircraft and surface
observations.. In 1957-58, the International Geophysical Year included major 
aircraft and
surface research efforts in Antarctica, and saw the launch of the first 
artificial satellites.

The advent of the Space Age and recent technological advancements have given 
today's
scientists new tools these earlier explorers could only have dreamed of. The 
time had
come to put those tools to work in a new study of the polar regions. This was 
the genesis
of the latest International Polar Year (IPY).  It began on March 1 of this year 
and will
continue through March 1, 2009, allowing researchers to conduct two annual 
observing
cycles in each polar region.

Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., have joined 
colleagues
from other NASA centers, U.S. agencies and universities, as well as more than 
60 other
nations, in a worldwide campaign to better understand the polar regions of 
Earth. NASA
and JPL will also study the polar regions of the moon and Mars. Combining the 
latest
satellite observations from NASA and other international space agencies with 
airborne
and ground-based instrumentation, scientists will study all aspects of the 
poles, including
the polar land regions, ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice, oceans and atmosphere. 
Nearly the
entire JPL armada of Earth science satellites and instruments will contribute
measurements. The combination of data will give scientists new insights into 
the polar
regions and how they're connected to the rest of the Earth system.

So why study the poles so intently? Scientists want to understand the 
large-scale
environmental changes that are occurring in Earth's polar regions because they 
have
major societal and economic impacts. In addition, studying them helps advance 
new
scientific frontiers, such as understanding the role of the Antarctic and 
Greenland ice
sheets in sea level rise.

"The International Polar Year is a unique and timely opportunity for all of us, 
from
scientists to members of the public, regardless of our nationality or 
backgrounds, to bring
Earth's polar regions into focus," said Eric Rignot, a JPL research scientist. 
"Important
changes are taking place in the polar regions, with major consequences for the 
future.
There could not have been a better time for an International Polar Year."

"The International Polar Year offers tremendous opportunities for collaboration 
with
other scientists and for mobilizing the resources and energy needed to 
understand the
changes that are occurring," added JPL research scientist Isabella Velicogna. 
"The ice
sheets are changing much faster than we were expecting, and this makes our job 
of
understanding those changes very exciting."

JPL scientists will be key contributors to International Polar Year Earth 
studies by:

- Generating continental-scale mosaic maps depicting how fast polar ice sheets 
are
flowing

- Gathering information on glacier thickness in Greenland and Patagonia using a
novel low-frequency airborne radar sounder

- Documenting glacier and ice shelf changes on the ground and from a series of
international synthetic-aperture radar satellites

"These efforts will greatly improve our knowledge of ice sheet changes and their
response to climate change," said Rignot. "They will help us improve our 
ability to
determine how ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica may affect global sea 
level in the
future."

Measurements of ozone, chlorine monoxide (which destroys ozone), and related 
chemical
species gathered by the JPL-developed and managed Microwave Limb Sounder
instrument on NASA's Aura satellite are providing a 3-D view of atmospheric 
processes
over the polar regions. These satellite measurements complement surface 
activities being
conducted during International Polar Year. International regulations have 
brought about a
slight decline in stratospheric chlorine, which should result in higher ozone 
levels.
However, changes in climate can potentially delay ozone layer recovery. The 2006
Antarctic ozone hole was the most severe on record, and the Arctic region 
continues to
experience large ozone losses in some years. Research conducted during 
International
Polar Year, supported by JPL satellite measurements, is focused on quantifying 
the
relationship between climate change and ozone depletion.

NASA and JPL are also "pole-vaulting" to Mars and the moon by studying, for 
example,
the Martian polar regions, which may hold critical clues about the habitability 
of the red
planet.

NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter, launched in 2001, and still active, has discovered 
large
amounts of water ice mixed into the top one meter (three feet) of the planet's 
surface at
high latitudes. That discovery prompted development of the Phoenix Mars Lander
mission, which will launch in August and travel to a far northern Martian plain 
equivalent
in latitude to southern Greenland. Phoenix will dig into the soil and analyze 
samples
scooped at various depths from the surface to the icy layer. The mission 
includes
investigation of a hypothesis that long-term climate cycles sometimes warm the 
icy layer
enough to create conditions that could sustain microbial life.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the European Space Agency's Mars Express
orbiter are using cameras, spectrometers and ground-penetrating radar to study 
Martian
polar regions and other portions of the planet. Polar layered terrain holds a 
record of
climate history analogous to tree rings or terrestrial ice cores (samples of 
accumulated
snow and ice drilled from deep within ice sheets or glaciers that contain 
trapped air
bubbles, the composition of which can provide a picture of past climate 
conditions).

Finally, NASA's mission to extend human exploration into the solar system 
begins with
creating a base in the polar regions of the Earth's moon. Next year, an 
instrument
designed, built and managed by JPL will be carried to the moon aboard the 
Indian Space
Agency's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper is a 
state-of-the-art
imaging spectrometer that will give scientists their first opportunity to 
examine lunar
mineralogy at high spatial and spectral resolution. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper 
will
map the entire lunar surface from an altitude of 100 kilometers (62 miles).

While International Polar Year will end in 2009, NASA's research into the polar 
regions
of Earth, the moon and Mars will continue for the foreseeable future. "The work 
we do
these next two years will lead to continued cooperation with our international 
IPY
partners in the future," said Rignot. "IPY is only a beginning."

-end-


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