Isabella Velicogna
Isabella Velicogna
coverage degrees good large
Their orbits have a very large inclination, of 89 degrees in fact, so you get very good coverage over the Antarctic.
causing changes distance fly ice information mass measure sheet turns underneath
As it turns out if you can measure changes in distance between the two satellites, you can get information about what's underneath and what's causing those changes. And you can get information when you fly over the ice sheet about the mass change of the ice sheet.
antarctica fresh largest reservoir
Antarctica is Earth's largest reservoir of fresh water.
antarctica ice level number sea step toward understanding
We can now see Antarctica melting. We have a number for the ice sheet. It's a big step toward understanding how the sea level is going to change.