Crew Earth Observations - International Polar Year (CEO-IPY).........................................................
Research Area: Earth Remote Sensing
Expedition(s): 14- 18
Principal Investigator: ● Donald Roy Pettit, PhD, Johnson Space Center, Houston,
Texas
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Crew Earth Observations -
International Polar Year (CEO-IPY)
supports an international
collaboration of scientists studying the
Earth’s Polar Regions from 2007 to
- International Space Station crew
members photograph polar
phenomena including icebergs,
auroras, and mesospheric clouds in
response to daily correspondence
from the scientists on the ground.
EARTH BENEFITS
Data collected by CEO-IPY will be
used by an international collaboration
of scientists to determine how the
Polar Regions have changed over the
past 125 years and might help to
explain atmospheric phenomena
such as Polar Mesospheric Clouds.
The blueprint the data creates will
be used to determine the changes
in the Polar Regions in the future.
The data gathered will also be used
as an educational tool for teachers
and students worldwide.
SPACE BENEFITS
Observations that are made from
Earth's orbit create the model for
planetary exploration observations
on future long-duration missions.RESULTS
ISS crew members successfully
documented the break-up of large tabular icebergs that calved from the Antarctic ice shelves
and drifted northward into the South Atlantic Ocean. Researchers from the National Snow and
Shows the regional view of Iceberg A22A, also known as
'Amigosberg', and a much more detailed image of ice
breakup along the margin (white box and inset). The images
were taken as part of the International Space Station support
of the International Polar Year, initiated by astronaut Don
Pettit, and implemented through the Crew Earth
Observations payload.Layers of Earth's atmosphere, brightly colored as the sun rises over
central Asia, and Polar Mesospheric Clouds are featured in this
image photographed by an Expedition 17 crew member. The image
was acquired in support of International Polar Year research.