Penguins Smell Less from Space
Using High‐resolution Imagery to Change Polar Science

Paul Morin
Polar Geospatial Center
University of Minnesota

In the good ‘ol days intrepid explorers would travel and work at great peril at the Earth’s frozen poles sometimes never to return. They would struggle to map the geography and visit just a few locations. This has all changed now in two ways. 1) Using newly available data, the Polar Geospatial Center can monitor changes as small as an individual penguin and as large as an ice shelf on a time scale as small as a day. 2) More imagery resources are available to more people than ever before through tools such as Google Earth, allowing anyone with a computer and an internet connection to see what even scientists couldn’t see just a few months ago.
We are entering a new golden age of polar exploration. In the heroic age over a hundred years ago, polar exploration was only open to a select few. Using modern satellites and tools we can discover new lands from the comfort of a warm office surrounded by a Minnesota winter. Start our fall colloquium series with some favorite demonstrations put on by physics faculty.  Come and enjoy the fun and learn about future departmental activities as well.  Cookies and cider too!