Cryosat-2 Delivers First Data
14.04.2010 - Atmosphere & Space, Ice & Snow, Bi-polar
The European Space Agency (ESA) made a significant achievement this week by successfully sending its third satellite into orbit under its Earth Observation programme. Launched successfully on 8 April, the satellite will provide data on the variations in Earth’s ice cover.
The satellite was launched on a Dnepr Rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 15:57 CEST (13:57 UT), and separated from its launcher 17 minutes later. In just under 3 days, on April 11, CryoSat-2 had completed the formal Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) and its primary instrument, the Synthetic Aperture Interferometric Radar Altimeter (SIRIAL), was enabled and began gathering its first radar echo data at 16:40 CEST.
The entire operation ran smoothly with the initial data clearly showing ice cover and underlying layers over the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. Being in a polar orbit, Cryosat-2 is able to provide closer observation of the poles than previous satellites (up to 88° latitude), which translates to an additional 46 million km2 of coverage.
The first stage a success, ground experts will now put CryoSat-2 through an extensive commissioning stage over the next several months. This will optimise the sophisticated systems on board and on the ground in order to achieve the best data on ice thickness ever received from a satellite.
