This award is for a program of satellite image analysis in support of the U.S. component of the International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE). Imagery will be used to select the safest traverse routes and good locations for ice core drilling. RADARSAT imagery is proposed as the primary tool for crevasse mapping. The search for good ice core drilling sites will involve determining local slope fluctuations, ice flow directions, orientation and intensity of buried sastrugi and evidence of past melt near potential drill sites. The work is directly relevant to understanding the mass balance of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and will help in the interpretation of the ice core records collected as part of ITASE.
