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NSF PA/M 01-04 - February 13, 2001
Images Available: Science Team Places Sensors on Enormous
Iceberg to Track Motion, Weather Conditions
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is making available
still photographs, at print resolution, of NSF-funded
researchers placing Automatic Weather Stations (AWS)
on a massive Antarctic iceberg. The iceberg, designated
B- 15A, is approximately 144 kilometers (90 miles)
long and 48 kilometers (20 miles) wide. It is a part
of a larger berg that broke away from the Ross Ice
Shelf last March.
Background: Transported to the iceberg by the
U.S. Coast Guard in late January, Douglas MacAyeal
of the University of Chicago and Jonathan Thom of
the University of Wisconsin- Madison erected three
stations on the ice surface, roughly 45 meters (150
feet) above the surface of the ocean. The stations
each incorporate Global Positioning System (GPS) units,
which will allow the science team to track the motion
of the berg; an anemometer, to measure wind velocity
and direction, as well as sensors to measure relative
humidity, surface temperature and barometric pressure.
Two weeks worth of data from the sensors has already
been collected by satellite. MacAyeal said he expects
soon to begin analyzing the iceberg's motion and the
effects of collisions between the berg and the shoreline
and ice at Cape Crozier in Antarctica. The weather
stations, assembled at the University of Wisconsin,
are equipped with batteries and solar panels. Based
on their use elsewhere in Antarctica, they could be
expected to operate for as many as five years.
Images: (Iceberg, B-15, researchers erecting
stations on the iceberg)
Resolution: (300 dpi).
Available from: Peter West, NSF, (703) 292-8070/pwest@nsf.gov
For more information contact:
Peter West, NSF (703) 292-8070/pwest@nsf.gov
Terri Gregory, University of Wisconsin (608)
263-3373/
terri.gregory@ssec.wisc.edu
Steve Koppes, University of Chicago (773) 702-8366/s-koppes@uchicago.edu
Broadcasters: B-Roll of the B-15 iceberg is
available on Betacam SP, contact NSF's Dena Headlee,
(703) 292-8070/dheadlee@nsf.gov.
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