The Global Land Ice Velocity Extraction (GoLive) project is a collaboration of scientists from the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. By using data from the Landsat 8 satellite to track seasonal ice flows in nearly real time, the GoLive team hopes to gain a better understanding of the flows’ causes and consequences. Landsat 8, a collaboration between NASA and the US Geological Survey, boasts significant improvements in radiometric and geolocation over its predecessor. From its Sun-synchronous orbit, the satellite collects up to 725 images a day (cloud cover permitting) and completes a full survey of Earth’s surface every 16 days. The images reveal subtle features of shading and surface texture, and by comparing images on different dates, the GoLive team can map the motion of an ice sheet’s skin with an accuracy of 5 meters per year.
Shown...
