Global Change Study of the Cryosphere of Antarctica.

• Main Author: Swithinbank, Charles W.
• Other Authors: SWITHINBANK (CHARLES W) CAMBRIDGE (UNITED KINGDOM)
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1995
• Subjects: Snow; Ice and Permafrost; Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; *GLACIOLOGY; *ANTARCTIC REGIONS; POLAR REGIONS; TIME INTERVALS; GLOBAL; COASTAL REGIONS; ACCURACY; BATHYMETRY; SEASONAL VARIATIONS; BASE LINES; CLIMATE; GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS; TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS; AREA COVERAGE; DIGITAL MAPS; SEA LEVEL; SEA ICE; GLACIERS; PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES; SATELLITE PHOTOGRAPHY; Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice; Ice Sheet; permafrost; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA293529; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA293529

Changes in the area and volume of polar ice sheets are intricately linked with changes in global climate and may severely impact the densely populated coastal regions on Earth. Melting of the West Antarctic part of the ice sheet alone could cause a sea-level rise of as much as 8 m. The potential sea level rise for the entire Antarctic ice sheet is estimated to be 73 m. Global climate is changing, and with it the volume of ice. The purpose of the work was to map recent changes in the coastline of Antarctica and to establish an accurate baseline series of 1:1,000,000-scale maps that define, from the analysis of Landsat images, the glaciological characteristics of the coastline of Antarctica during two time intervals (mid-i 970's and late 1980's/early 1990's). A total of 240 separate map drawings have been completed-all of them based on interpretation of Landsat images. These form the basis for a series of 24 coastal maps being produced by the US Geological Survey. (AN)