Research Experience for Undergraduates at Elizabeth City State University in Elizabeth City, North Carolina
Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets in Ocean, Marine, and Polar Science
Validation of the Antartic Snow Accumilation and Ice Discharge Basal Stress Boundary in the Southeastern Region of the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica
2015

Team Members: Charlie Nelson, Kamberlin King, Ayanna Overton
Team Mentor: Michael Jefferson, Jr.

http://nia.ecsu.edu/reuomps2015/teams/antarctic/index.html

Abstract
The largest ice shelf in Antarctica, Ross Ice Shelf, was investigated over the years of 1970-2015. Near the basal stress boundary between the ice shelf and the West Antarctic ice sheet, ice velocity ranges from a few meters per year to several hundred meters per year in ice streams. Ice velocity increase as the ice moves seaward, reaching more than 1 km yr-1 in the central portions of the ice front. Most of the drainage from West Antarctica into the Ross Ice Shelf flows down two major ice streams, each of which discharges more than 20 km3 of ice each year.

Along with velocity changes the warmest water below parts of the Ross Ice Shelf resides in the lowest portion of the water column because of its high salinity. Vertical mixing caused by tidal stirring can thus induce ablation by lifting the warm water into contact with the ice shelf. This process can cause melting over a period of time and eventually cause breakup of ice shelf.

With changes occurring over many years a validation is needed for the Antarctic Snow Accumulation and Ice Discharge (ASAID) basal stress boundary created in 2003. After the 2002 Larsen B Ice Shelf disintegration, nearby glaciers in the Antarctic Peninsula accelerated up to eight times their original speed over the next 18 months. Similar losses of ice tongues in Greenland have caused speed-ups of two to three times the flow rates in just one year. Rapid changes occurring in regions surrounding Antarctica are causing concern in the polar science community to research changes occurring in coastal zones over time. During the research, the team completed study on the Ross Ice Shelf located on the south western coast of the Antarctic. The study included a validation of the ABSB vs. the natural basal stress boundary (NBSB) along the Ross Ice Shelf. The ASAID BSB was created in 2003 by a team of researchers headed by National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA GSFC), with an aim of studying coastal deviations as it pertains to the mass balance of the entire continent. The point data file was aimed at creating a replica of the natural BSB. Select cloud free Landsat satellite imagery from satellites 1 through 7 was used to detect changes occurring over the span of 19 years. The last major interest in the study included documenting the deviations or incorrect placements of the ABSB vs. NBSB. ENVI 4.7 as well as ENVI 5.0 image manipulation software was used in the geo-rectifying and the geo-referencing process. Changes that occurred were documented in the form of a data table with the change that occurred along with the latitude and longitude geographic coordinates.

Index Terms -- Ice Shelf, Antarctica, ENVI, GloVis, Landsat, Antarctic Snow Accumulation and Ice Discharge Basal Stress Boundary (ABSB), Natural Basal Stress Boundary (NBSB)

NASA Kentucky Space Grant Consortium and EPSCoR Programs
Kentucky State University / University of Kentucky
Improving Heat Shields for Atmospheric Entry: Numerical and Experimental Investigations for Modeling Ablative Thermal Protection System Surface
Degradation Effects on Near‐Wall Flow
2014 - 2015

Mentor: Chi Shen, Ph.D