ESA Portal - What will CryoSat find?

Media Centre

Press Releases ESA Television Launch Media Corner Exhibitions

Services

Calendar Publications Frequently asked questions ESA-sponsored Conferences Help Site Credits Portal terms of use Comments Subscribe

What will CryoSat find?

7 October 2005

Back to article

CryoSat in the tower waiting for the launch

Download:

HI-RES JPG (Size: 99 kb)

CryoSat in the tower atop its Rockot, waiting for launch

Credits: ESA - K. Büchler

"Summer Arctic sea ice is shrinking – but is it thinning?"

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES JPG (Size: 396 kb)

HI-RES TIFF (Size: 6319 kb)

Chnages in Arctic sea ice cover, 1979 to 2003(photos ACIA, 'Impacts of a Warming Arctic: Arctic Climate Impact Assessment.' Cambridge University Press, 2004. Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, 2004)

Credits: NASA

Back to article

Dr. Seymour Laxon of the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM) at University College London

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES JPEG (Size: 885 kb)

HI RES TIFF (Size: 6019 kb)

CryoSat will be launched on a Rockot vehicle from Plesetsk in Russia. Rockot is based on the SS-19 intercontinental ballistic missile, with a versatile third stage added to the 2-stage missile booster. Recently commercialised, Rockot has already launched several satellites and the SS-19 has had over 150 test firings.

Credits: ESA

Opening a new window on the Poles

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES JPEG (Size: 671 kb)

HI-RES TIFF (Size: 3311 kb)

Ice cover in the Antarctic and Arctic polar regions. It represents summer in the Arctic and winter in Antarctica.

Credits: ESA/AOES Medialab

"We can add ice thickness to our models"

Back to article

The research vessel Aranda was used as the base during the campaign in the Baltic. The EM-bird measurements were made from a helicopter. A typical flight lasted three hours.

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES JPEG (Size: 720 kb)

HI-RES TIFF (Size: 5813 kb)

Artist's impression of CryoSat in orbit.

The launch of the CryoSat spacecraft was unfortunately aborted on 8 October 2005 due to a malfunction of its Rockot launcher, which resulted in the total loss of the spacecraft.

At the latest meeting of the European Space Agency's Earth Observation Programme Board, which took place at ESA’s Headquarters in Paris on 23 and 24 February 2006, ESA received the green light from its Member States to build and launch a CryoSat recovery mission, CryoSat-2.

Credits: ESA

Is Antarctic land ice growing or shrinking?

Back to article

The Concordia Station is a scientific base built in Antarctica by the French Polar Institute (IPEV) and the Italian Antarctic Programme (PNRA)

Credits: IPEV

Determining CryoSat's orbit will improve its results

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES JPG (Size: 217 kb)

The DORIS radio receiver placed aboard CryoSat

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES JPG (Size: 903 kb)

CryoSat's main instrument is the twin-radar-antenna SIRAL instrument, which has been designed to measure the thickness of sea ice and land ice sheet margins.

Credits: ESA/AOES Medialab

CryoSat

Polar explorer delivers rare snow-depth data to ESA for CryoSat validation Duncan Wingham, Lead Investigator CryoSat Mission Scientist: interview with Mark Drinkwater Scientists complete experiments in the Arctic before CryoSat launch

In depth

CryoSat-2 Campaigns