As it flows into the pockets, it can be trapped, and the cooling continues. This layer of air is denser than the relatively warmer air above it, which causes it to slide down the shallow slope of domes on the Antarctic plateau. This creates a layer of super-chilled air above the surface of the snow and ice. If clear skies persist for a few days, the ground chills as it radiates its remaining heat into space. Already cold temperatures fall rapidly when the sky clears. The team compared the sites to topographic maps to explore how it gets so cold. Then, with the higher resolution of the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) aboard Landsat 8, the research team pinpointed the record-setting pockets. Using these sensors to scan the East Antarctic Plateau, Scambos detected extremely cold temperatures on a 620-mile stretch of the ridge at high elevations between Argus and Fuji, and even colder temperatures lower elevations in pockets off the ridge. These sensitive instruments can pick up thermal radiation emitted from Earth's surface, even in areas lacking much heat. They turned to the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites and the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on several National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites. Rather, the coldest spots develop just downhill from a ridge that runs from Dome A to Dome Fuji. The coldest place on earth is in the East Antarctic Plateau, but not at the highest peak.
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