Antarctica from Above: Flying for Science, Finding Beauty These images, captured between Nov. 4 and Jan. 11, were all taken during operational flights to survey the snow and ice in the polar region below but, there is no denying their beauty… Our mission, Operation IceBridge, is in its ninth year of flights to map the snow and ice of Antarctica. It is the largest airborne survey of Earth's polar ice ever flown and yields an unprecedented three-dimensional view of Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets, ice shelves and sea ice. These views from above are intended to provide a tremendous amount of information about the huge expanses of snow and ice around Earth’s polar regions and how they are changing. In addition, this critical data is used to predict the response of Earth’s polar ice to climate change and resulting sea-level rise. To view more images from our IceBridge mission and learn about the research being collected, visit: earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/OperationIceBridg...