First CryoSat-2 Data Released to Select Scientists
22.07.2010 - Atmosphere & Space, Ice & Snow, Bi-polar
The first data from CryoSat-2, launched three months ago by the European Space Agency (ESA), were released to a select group of 150 scientists from approximately 40 research institutes around the world. These select scientists had agreed to use this data to help fine-tune the satellite before its data is released to the wider scientific community later this year. The release is the first major milestone in the scientific exploitation of the mission's data, which is crucial in the effort to determine small variations in the thickness of sea ice covering the polar oceans and in the large ice sheets over Antarctica and Greenland.
While CryoSat-2 will not finish its commissioning phase until the autumn, it has already exceeded all expectations. Both the satellite and its instruments are in good condition and are providing encouraging data.
The data CryoSat-2 has been providing shows unprecedented accuracy, which will allow the scientists to gain better insight in the impact of climate change on polar ice.
In order to achieve greater accuracy, ESA goes to great lengths to organize extensive validation campaigns in the Arctic and Antarctica, in which measurements are taken simultaneously on the ground and from aircrafts while following the orbit of CryoSat-2. From this, a comparison between ground data and satellite data can be done to assess the accuracy of the data it receives.
