Ice Images

Marguerite Bay ice coverage
(NOAA)

The following were provided by Alice Doyle, Raytheon Polar Services:

July 15, 2002
"Palmer Station is currently seeing very cold temperatures (-50 with wind chill)."

Palmer Station TeraScan, July 7, 2002
west Anatarctic Peninsula pack ice, Palmer Station TeraScan, July 7, 2002

Palmer Station TeraScan, July 7, 2002
"Here's the last good look before the low clouds started growing up here (literally), there, and everywhere, obscuring the ice edge. Too bad, too, as the high clouds were moving to the NE so nicely...
Not much change in your ice prospects, I think; still looks like 90-100 miles if you go the most direct way, and I'm still guessing that taking a slightly more easterly approach, passing between 60S and 62S closer to 60W than 63W would minimize your time in the ice. I'll be very interested to hear coordinates of your entry into and exit from the ice, as well as what type of ice it is and how it impacts your sailing." John Booth, Palmer Station Science Technician

Palmer Station TeraScan, July 5, 2002
"This one's a bit ugly to look at, because in order to 'pull up' the low contrast ice, the very cold high clouds had to be way oversaturated. But though it's not lovely, it is informative, as it shows pretty much all the ice that you'll be coming through if you come down the standard inside route. Looks like our recent winds pushed the ice in question, the stuff north of the South Shetlands, south just a bit, closer to the islands, and maybe the 'belt' through which you'd go is shorter, possibly because the whole pack was blown west a bit. I had it as >90 miles of ice on 30 June, while this looks more like 70, at least at its shortest spot. It's obviously a dynamic situation, so let's hope we get at least one more clear look before you reach it, preferably RIGHT before you reach it. If we don't, this image suggests taking a course a little further to the east than you might otherwise, trying to hit the ice NNW of Livingston, rather than NNW of Smith. No clue about ice in the Bransfield from this one, so it's no help in choosing between a 'through the South Shetlands' and an 'around the South Shetlands' approach. John Booth, Palmer Station Science Technician

Palmer Station Tera Scan, June 12, 2002
Marguerite Bay region, June 10, 2002
"There's a bunch of low clouds casting a grayish pall over much of the ice, but even so, you can see that the pack is more consolidated, and you can see that the ice in the interior of the bay itself has set up nicely as fast ice, with a well defined (and currently open water) ice edge. That's what a few weeks of calm and -20C will do, I guess. Last report from Rothera was 40 cm of ice. I've also tossed in the latest microwave image, since it hasn't been clear enough to get another remotely decent look at the edge in the IR." John Booth, Palmer Station Science Technician

Marguerite Bay region, June 4, 2002

Marguerite Bay region, June 1, 2002

Marguerite Bay region, May 20, 2002

Marguerite Bay region, March 23, 2002

Marguerite Bay region, March 16, 2002

Marguerite Bay region, March 12, 2002

Marguerite Bay region, March 5, 2002

Marguerite Bay region, March 1, 2002

Marguerite Bay region, February 28, 2002

Marguerite Bay region, February 22, 2002
"This does show the ice nicely to the east of 70°W, all the way to the Peninsula itself.  Although clouds come in west
of 70°W, you can still see the rough demarcation of the ice through them.  Not much has changed during your time there, though perhaps that last blow has cleared away some of the looser stuff and left just the hard core behind."

Marguerite Bay region from N.B. Palmer, February 14, 2002

Marguerite Bay region from Palmer Station TeraScan, February 14, 2002