NASA Explorers

NASA Explorers is a new digital series that takes you inside the space agency and follows the pioneers, risk-takers and experts at the front line of exploration.

Snow is one part of the cryosphere that many of us have actually encountered, but it also plays a crucial role in regulating Earth’s climate. Through decades of remote sensing, NASA has kept a close eye on the ebb and flow of snow cover.

To know the evolution of sea ice and how we observe it from space is to know Dr. Claire Parkinson. Meet the scientist who continues to have a profound effect on the study of climate change through her work monitoring the health of global sea ice.

NASA studies Earth's glaciers and ice sheets. As they melt and change, glaciers and ice sheets dramatically affect sea level rise and the climate system as a whole, creating an urgency to understand and forecast their behavior.

Many NASA Explorers look for places with water ice, including distant moons like Enceladus and Europa. This week, we’re traveling away from our home planet to investigate ice in the solar system.

This week, NASA Explorers are taking us high into the mountains of Alaska, Patagonia, Asia and elsewhere for a closer look at mountain glaciers. They currently have an outsized role in sea level rise.