NASA is set to deploy a research team onboard a C-130 aircraft over the Arctic to investigate the impact of changes in sea ice level on the region’s climate.
The Arctic Radiation IceBridge Sea and Ice Experiment team will perform the studies beginning on Aug. 28 through Oct. 1 to measure the amounts of ice and clouds, as well as the levels of incoming and outgoing radiation, NASA said Thursday.
The space agency intends for the ARISE program to help scientists observe the effects of sea ice loss to the formation of Arctic cloud and the balance between incoming and outgoing radiation.
“A wildcard in what’s happening in the Arctic is clouds and how changes in clouds, due to changing sea-ice conditions, enhance or offset warming,” said Bill Smith, ARISE principal investigator at NASA’s Langley Research Center.
The research team will probe open water, land ice and sea ice using mission instruments aboard the C-130 aircraft.
They will fly from Thule Air Base in northern Greenland the first week and from Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska for the rest of the campaign period.
