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JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
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IMAGE CAPTION                    
				Lambert Glacier and Amery Ice Shelf
				February 20, 2001

The Lambert Glacier, seen in the center of this image, is one of 
the largest and longest of Antarctica's glaciers. It drains about 
900,000 square kilometers (560,000 square miles) of East 
Antarctica. On the southern half of the image, several smaller 
ice streams, channeled by numerous exposed mountains including 
the Mawson Escarpment to the east, merge into the Lambert, which 
broadens as it eventually flows into the ocean and forms the 
Amery Ice Shelf. The Lambert has clearly visible surface 
flowlines, which extend hundreds of kilometers into the interior. 
In the center section, isolated features on the ice shelf that 
appear bright in the radar image are likely due to past 
occurrences of surface meltwater accumulating into small lakes 
and troughs.  This mosaic was derived from RADARSAT imagery 
obtained during the 1997 Antarctic Mapping Mission and shows an 
area approximately 900 kilometers by 675 kilometers (560 by 415 
miles). The Lambert Glacier is centered at approximately 72 
degrees south latitude and 67.5 degrees east longitude.

The Antarctic Mapping Mission is a joint project between NASA and 
the Canadian Space Agency. The project is led by Ohio State 
University in Columbus in partnership with the Alaska Synthetic 
Aperture Radar (SAR) Facility at the University of Alaska 
Fairbanks, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., 
and the Vexcel Corporation, Boulder, Colo. The Canadian Space 
Agency's RADARSAT-1 satellite carries a synthetic aperture radar, 
an imaging radar sensor that operates at C-band (5.3 GHz 
frequency) with horizontal transmit-horizontal receive 
polarization from an orbital altitude of about 800 kilometers 
(500 miles). The 1997 Antarctic Mapping Mission took place 
between Sept. 19 and Oct. 14 and mapped the entire Antarctic 
continent. The 2000 Antarctic Mapping Mission lasted from Sept. 3 
to Nov. 4 and obtained complete coverage of Antarctica north of 
82 degrees south latitude.  

Photo Credit: Canadian Space Agency/NASA/Ohio State University, 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Alaska SAR facility
 
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