CryoSat’s detailed data have been used to generate this map of sea-ice thickness in the Arctic. Data from January and February this year have been used to show the thickness of the ice as it approaches its annual maximum. CryoSat’s sensors and its orbit have enabled charting ice thickness close to the North Pole for the first time. Credits: CPOM/UCL/ESA
The first maps of ice thickness courtesy of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) CryoSat mission are in – a new tool to advance polar science.
ESA’s CryoSat was lofted in April 2010. From orbit, the spacecraft has spent the last seven months delivering precise measurements to study changes in the thickness of Earth’s ice.
Viewed as a key to understanding fully how climate change is affecting the fragile polar regions, there is a need to determine exactly how the thickness of the ice is changing – hence the mission of CryoSat.
ESA’s CryoSat Mission Manager, Tommaso Parrinello, noted in a press statement: “These first results are very exciting as we begin to see the mission’s potential realized. The coming months will be dedicated to completing the picture to gain better insight into how polar ice is changing.”
CryoSat measures the height of the sea ice above the water line, known as the freeboard, to calculate the thickness. The measurements used to generate this first map (shown above) of the Arctic were from January and February 2011, as the ice approaches its annual maximum.
The data even shows lineations in the central Arctic that reflect the ice’s response to wind stress.
By Leonard David
