ESA - Observing the Earth - Understanding Our Planet - International Symposium on Radar Altimetry in Venice, 13 to 18 March 2006

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International Symposium on Radar Altimetry in Venice, 13 to 18 March 2006

7 March 2006

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The radar altimeter offers valuable information on the state of the ocean by providing measurements of the height of the ocean surface. Knowing the height of the sea surface has allowed scientists, for the first time, to map the ocean floor.

Credits: ESA

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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 - P. CARRIL

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This is an example of ‘Level 3’ product, mixing altimetry data. Combining data from RA-2 with other satellite-flown altimeter results like CNES’s Jason-1 and the US Navy’s GFO provides an improved space/time resolution. Here sea level is shown to a resolution of two centimeters, and higher resolution still is possible. RA-2 and Jason-1 data were designed to be especially complementary.

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Weekly sea level anomaly in the Tropical Pacific Ocean between 31 July 2005 and 19 February 2006. La Niña is a cooling event, equivalent to El Niño, but linked to opposing shifts in weather patterns.

Credits: ESA

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Credits: ESA