ESA CryoSat ice satellite rides new waves

Estimate of wind speed over oceans using data from ESA’s CryoSat mission from 17 November – 13 December. The product was generated by NOAA using CryoSat’s fast delivery mode radar echoes.

Credits: NOAA – E. Leuliette

ESA's ice mission CryoSat in orbit. CryoSat is Europe's first mission dedicated to monitoring ice. 

By measuring the changes in the thickness of ice, both marine ice floating in the oceans and the vast ice sheets on land, the CryoSat mission will lead to a better understanding of how Earth's ice fields are responding to climate change.

Credits: ESA - AOES Medialab

ESA’s CryoSat mission has been gathering detailed information on the thickness of Earth’s ice since its launch in 2010. Through international collaboration, this state-of-the-art mission is soon to be used to monitor conditions at sea for marine forecasting.

CryoSat was built to measure tiny variations in the thickness of Earth’s ice. As a result, the mission is providing scientists with the data they need to help improve our understanding of the relationship between ice, climate and sea level.

As CryoSat orbits from pole to pole, it passes over vast expanses of ocean. So while the mission was designed specifically for ice monitoring, it can also serve to help improve the safety of marine traffic.

Sea level off the southeast coast of Australia on 15 December 2011 by combining CryoSat data with Envisat, Jason 1 and Jason 2.

Credits: CSIRO - D. Griffen

The satellite carries Europe’s first radar altimeter specialised for the purpose of detecting tiny variations in the height of the ice – but it can also be used to measure sea level and the height of the waves.

The instrument sends out short radar pulses and measures the time it takes for the signals to travel from the satellite to the ground and back. This information provides the height of the surface below.

The advantage of yielding this kind of information from CryoSat is also down to the advanced performance of its main SIRAL instrument.

When data from CryoSat are merged with other altimeter data such as that from the Envisat and Jason satellites, the combined estimation of wave height and wind speed is greatly improved.

In addition, thanks to its drifting orbit, CryoSat allows a high number of crossovers with other altimeter missions. This provides a set of measurements that have not been available before.