Image Courtesy of Antarctic Cooperative Research Centre and Australian Antarctic Division

Imagine wanting to map Antarctica or to study how it changes over time. It is the coldest, windiest, driest, and highest continent on Earth, so it is a difficult place for people to explore. During the Antarctic winter, in places near the South Pole the Sun is below the horizon for months at a time and it is dark 24 hours a day. Even when the Sun is above the horizon, Antarctica is usually covered by clouds.

In the early 20th century, Antarctica was largely uncharted. For Shackleton to explore Antarctica, he had to go there himself, prepared for extreme conditions. He had to be self-reliant; he couldn’t even use a radio for communication. He had just a few maps, navigation instruments that relied on the Sun for readings, accounts from ship captains who hunted seals and whales in the area, and a handful of intrepid explorers.

Satellite technology has changed the way people explore Antarctica. You are about to look at some images of Antarctica, including several images that were created from information collected by satellites orbiting Earth. These satellites carry different kinds of sensors. A camera is one kind of sensor. Cameras capture visible light and create photographic images. Other kinds of sensors detect other forms of energy and create different kinds of images. For example, some satellites carry instruments that can sense microwaves, a kind of radiation that is constantly being emitted from the surface of Earth. Other satellites carry radar, an instrument that bounces a radio signal off remote objects then maps the signal that comes back. Different sensors give us different views and different information about the objects they investigate.

Some satellite images record Earth’s colors as we see them. These are called true-color images. In other images, certain features are assigned bold or contrasting colors to make them show up better. For example, high mountains might be colored red. Such images are called false-color images.

The following readings will be given to you by your teacher.

The Voyage of the Endurance by Maurice Isserman

A History of Mapmaking

You can see The Antarctic Explorer time-line online to learn more about Antarctica's history.

Goals

1. You will describe how six images of Antarctica were created. You will figure out what each image can tell you—and what it can’t.
2. You will discuss how modern technology might have changed the course of Shackleton's expedition.