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Arctic sea ice is melting fast , having lost about 1 million square Swedish mile since the 1970s , but experts are still figuring out what factors , such as cloud cover , are speeding or slowing the ice ’s demise .
A newNASAmission is flying research worker over the Arctic to study the interplay between cloud type and ice conditions . The Arctic Radiation IceBridge Sea and Ice Experiment ( ARISE ) campaign will result research flights from Aug. 28 to Oct. 1 , the menses of greatest ice melt during the twelvemonth , NASAsaid in a program line .
Arctic sea ice covers about 1 million fewer square miles than it did in the 1970s, NASA said.
" In recent year , we ’ve been sic fresh records of the [ sea ice ] minimum every twelvemonth , " Tom Wagner , NASA Cryosphere programme manager , told Live Science . " The good news is this twelvemonth we are n’t poised to have a raw record , but it ’s not like the sea methamphetamine hydrochloride really recovers . It will still be one of the low ones on record . " [ See a NASA video on the ARISE mission ]
ocean shabu is a critical playerof Earth ’s change mood . It acts like a mirrored hat sitting on top of the satellite , Wagner said . Without that hat , the sun ’s heat will warm the ocean , leading tomore melting . In turn , the ocean let go of more moisture , which appears to influence atmospherical circulation and get melting in Arctic permafrost . This , in turn , further increases global warming .
In 2009 , Arctic ocean ice was just two - tierce as grownup as it was in 1979 , NASA cover . " And this is such an important part of the Earth ’s system , " Wagner said .
ARISE will enable scientists to take coinciding measurements of ice , swarm , and the levels of incoming and outgoing radiation , all of which influence globular thaw , experts said . The team will use NASA ’s C-130 aircraft from the Thule Air Base in Northern Greenland during the campaign ’s first workweek , and go out of Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks , Alaska , for the remainder of the hideaway .
The researchers will use a smorgasbord of tools on instrument panel the flights , including instruments that measure incoming solar and outgoing infrared radiation , ice surface peak , and cloud properties such as molecule sizing , experts say . The team will also tape swarm character and surface conditions , including open water , demesne ice and sea methamphetamine hydrochloride . NASA planet equipped with a instrument called Clouds and the Earth ’s Radiant Energy Systems ( CERES ) will allow coincidental data on Arctic condition .
This is the first time that many of these tools have combine forces , NASA said . Overall , the mission will provide new perceptiveness into the effect of clouds on Arctic sea deoxyephedrine , Wagner said .
" Clouds diddle varying roles in the Arctic , " he say . " In some ways , they block sunlight from getting down and maybe help keep the ice a turn . But in other way , they can hold hotness near the Earth ’s Earth’s surface . "
He add , " What we ’re trying to do is go out with a airplane and measure these affair so we can do a good job with our model . "
The researchers will also study the Arctic ’s varying cloud type and how they organise . Water or ice layers in some cloud may affect ocean - ice condition in unlike ways , Wagner said .
ARISE is not the only NASA deputation studying Arctic sea ice . The agency has 17 distance missionary station , and many cross the poles to aid researchers study ocean sparkler , Wagner said . And the Ice , Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 ( ICESat-2 ) is slate to usea laser to study ocean ice heaviness , pop in 2017 .
These projects will help scientist understand the factors influencing sea - ice melting , and the ice ’s larger effects on planetary mood .
" What we live is this : The Arctic is a really important part of the Earth ’s clime system , and we are changing it , " Wagner said .
