Wednesday, December 22, 2010
A computer program that automatically analyzes mounds of satellite
images and other data could help climate scientists keep track of complex, constantly changing environmental conditions, according to an international team of researchers. "All of the data and information that is continually collected by satellites and sensors can cause tons of problems for scientists, who simply don't have the time to analyze every pixel of every satellite image," said James Wang, professor of information sciences and technology at Penn State. "Our goal has been to provide a tool that would create useful information or knowledge from this large pool of data." (more)
Thursday, April 01, 2010
The massive ice sheets that blanket Greenland and Antarctica are
shrinking, according to Penn State geophysicist Sridhar Anandakrishnan, but understanding how quickly will require a better grasp of glacier dynamics. Anandakrishnan has traveled to Antarctica 17 times in the past 25 years to study glacial ice streams, frozen rivers of ice that flow from the center of an ice sheet and out to sea. These streams can be up to 100 miles in length, a mile deep and 50 miles wide, and most of the melting ice flows through them. (more)
