CryoSat

September 28, 2012 November 22, 2013

CryoSat-2 is a radar spacecraft, launched in 2010. Scientists have spent the past two years getting to grips with its data. Recently (April 2012), they have reported that CryoSat was now delivering an unprecedented view of the seasonal growth and retreat of sea ice spanning the entire Arctic basin.

European Space Agency’s CryoSat satellite programme is routinely monitoring changes in the Arctic sea ice thickness. The current satellite is Cryosat-2, revolving around the earth in LEO (Low Earth Orbit). The spacecraft provides information about the behaviour of coastal glaciers that drain thinning ice sheets. Such information would be used to better predictions of future sea-level rise.

CryoSat-1 & CryoSat-2

CryoSat-1 spacecraft was lost in a launch failure in 2005, however the programme was resumed with the successful launch of a replacement, CryoSat-2, launched on 8 April 2010. CryoSat is operated from the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany.

CryoSat: How does it work?

There are several satellites launched in recent past to monitor the rapid erosion of summer sea ice extent as the Arctic has warmed. However, CryoSat-2 is different has its innovation has been to provide a means to get at a figure for ice volume – a far more significant number in terms of understanding the long-term viability of the ice.

To carry out its job, CryoSat-2 carries one of the highest resolution synthetic aperture radars ever put in orbit. The instrument sends down pulses of microwave energy which bounce off both the top of the ice and the water in the cracks, or leads, which separate the floes. By measuring the difference in height between these two surfaces, scientists can, using a relatively simple calculation, work out the overall volume of the marine cover.