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✦Technology02 / 08
US–India radar satellite spots a ‘hummingbird’ in Antarctic ice
NISAR mapped cracks where flowing ice bends around a mountain peak.
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The U.S.–India NISAR satellite used L-band radar to produce an image of ice flowing around a mountaintop in East Antarctica. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory says the mountain obstructs ice flowing toward the ocean, creating stress and fractures in the surrounding surface. The image was produced in August 2025 and was nicknamed “the hummingbird” by NISAR scientists. Its magenta, green and white colours represent differences in how polarized microwave signals interact with and reflect from the ice. NISAR is the first satellite to carry two synthetic-aperture radar instruments operating at different wavelengths.
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NASA · JPLOriginal source and citation
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✦ US–India radar satellite spots a ‘hummingbird’ in Antarctic ice
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Scientific colours often represent measurements and must be read with the instrument method and repeated observations.
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- NISAR mapped cracks where flowing ice bends around a mountain peak.
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- An image can also be data
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- An image can also be data · Scientific colours often represent measurements and must be read with the instrument method and repeated observations.
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- Read scientific images more carefully · See how climate research gets data · Understand international science partnerships