New sea-ice map is most detailed ever
Launched last year, CryoSat carries one of the highest-resolution
synthetic aperture radars ever put into orbit. By bouncing pulses of
microwave radiation off the ice and water, the instrument enables
scientists to determine the difference in height between the two, which,
in turn, allows them to calculate the overall volume of the sea ice.
The CryoSat team then calibrated and validated the radar data using a
range of independent assessments.
The measurements used to generate the first map were gathered in January and February this year, as the ice approached its annual maximum. Continuing measurements will allow the team to track changes in ice thickness and cover over time. CryoSat is also being used to measure land ice, and has been used to create a new elevation model of Antarctica.
‘This major result comes just one year after launch,’ said Professor Volker Liebig, the ESA’s director of Earth observation programmes. ‘It is another important step towards achieving one of the primary objectives of the mission; namely, to determine how much the sea ice in the Arctic is thinning in response to a changing climate.’
August 2011
The measurements used to generate the first map were gathered in January and February this year, as the ice approached its annual maximum. Continuing measurements will allow the team to track changes in ice thickness and cover over time. CryoSat is also being used to measure land ice, and has been used to create a new elevation model of Antarctica.
‘This major result comes just one year after launch,’ said Professor Volker Liebig, the ESA’s director of Earth observation programmes. ‘It is another important step towards achieving one of the primary objectives of the mission; namely, to determine how much the sea ice in the Arctic is thinning in response to a changing climate.’
August 2011
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