ESA title

The mission

ESA’s Earth Explorer CryoSat mission is dedicated to measuring the thickness of polar sea ice and monitoring changes in the ice sheets that blanket Greenland and Antarctica. Its main payload is a SAR Interferometric Radar Altimeter, which is designed for ice, measuring changes at the margins of vast ice sheets and floating ice in polar oceans.

The launch

  • Date: 08 April 2010
  • Site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
  • Rocket: Russian/Ukrainian Dnepr based on SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missile
CryoSat
2011–16 November Arctic sea-ice thickness
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Arctic freeze slows down

30/11/2016 8450 views 103 likes
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A desolate place to work
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Probing Greenland’s ice sheet for future satellites

16/11/2016 5156 views 103 likes
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Plankton bloom in the Barents Sea
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New swath processing for ocean patterns?

28/10/2016 1225 views 5 likes
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Stavanger, Norway
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CryoSat sets new standard for measuring sea levels

26/07/2016 6212 views 98 likes
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CryoSat reveals recent Greenland ice loss

12/07/2016 11214 views 125 likes
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From petabytes to pictures

11/05/2016 8152 views 89 likes
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Astrolabe Glacier
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Antarctic ice safety band at risk

08/02/2016 11953 views 161 likes
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Eiffel ice cube
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Ice matters

11/12/2015 5114 views 60 likes
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Sea ice
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Cool summer boosts Arctic ice

20/07/2015 10597 views 93 likes
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Southern Antarctic Peninsula ice loss
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CryoSat detects sudden ice loss in Southern Antarctic Penin…

22/05/2015 13015 views 115 likes
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Spring ice thickness
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Fast access to CryoSat’s Arctic ice measurements now availa…

17/04/2015 8220 views 77 likes
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Ice venturers yield results for CryoSat

18/03/2015 2687 views 49 likes
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Austfonna ice loss
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Satellites catch Austfonna shedding ice

23/01/2015 11849 views 95 likes
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Five years ice-thickness change
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CryoSat extends its reach on the Arctic

15/12/2014 8305 views 68 likes
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Gravity reveals seafloor
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CryoSat unveils secrets of the deep

03/10/2014 13496 views 113 likes
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Greenland ice-sheet height
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Ice sheet highs, lows and loss

20/08/2014 14873 views 106 likes
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Sea-level detail from CryoSat
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Special delivery from CryoSat

11/06/2014 3872 views 49 likes
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Antarctica’s ice loss
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CryoSat finds sharp increase in Antarctica’s ice losses

19/05/2014 14371 views 98 likes
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Setting up camp
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Ice mission and extreme camping

14/05/2014 5004 views 60 likes
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Antarctic artefacts
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CryoSat detects hidden Antarctic pattern

21/01/2014 7615 views 72 likes
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Autumn sea-ice thickness from CryoSat 2010–2013
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Arctic sea ice up from record low

16/12/2013 29558 views 128 likes
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Thinning ice
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Antarctica’s ice loss on the rise

11/12/2013 11234 views 106 likes
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Measuring the storm surge
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CryoSat measures European storm surge

09/12/2013 6898 views 68 likes
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New dimensions on ice

11/09/2013 22530 views 68 likes
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Site of crater
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CryoSat maps largest-ever flood beneath Antarctica

02/07/2013 14063 views 117 likes
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SMOS tracks Hurricane Igor
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ESA’s Earth satellites are stars

21/06/2013 6531 views 34 likes
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CryoSat reveals major loss of Arctic sea ice

13/02/2013 12831 views 44 likes
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Altimeter reading over Cuba
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CryoSat hits land

21/12/2012 12344 views 35 likes
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ESA satellites looking deeper into sea ice

05/10/2012 3450 views 0 likes
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Radar altimetry gains altitude in Venice

24/09/2012 2763 views 2 likes
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Watch the altimetry symposium live from Venice

21/09/2012 1232 views 1 likes
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Mean sea level trends
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Call for Media: new data on global sea level changes

19/09/2012 2023 views 0 likes
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Mapping the ocean floor
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CryoSat goes to sea

28/05/2012 6999 views 7 likes
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CryoSat: past, present and future

15/05/2012 1006 views 1 likes
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ESA's ice mission
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Latest CryoSat result revealed

24/04/2012 5609 views 7 likes
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Call for Media: CryoSat’s first map of changes in sea-ice t…

18/04/2012 1152 views 0 likes
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Arctic sea ice from the NASA P-3
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ESA and NASA join forces to measure Arctic sea ice

04/04/2012 2316 views 2 likes
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Camping on blue ice
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Checking CryoSat reveals rising Antarctic blue ice

29/03/2012 2370 views 3 likes
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CryoSat breaks the ice with ocean currents

06/02/2012 2540 views 4 likes
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Tracking CryoSat
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Ice data at your fingertips

04/01/2012 1779 views 1 likes
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Wind speed from CryoSat
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CryoSat ice satellite rides new waves

22/12/2011 2012 views 0 likes
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Skidoo and corner reflector
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Antarctic expedition checks CryoSat down-under

09/12/2011 1904 views 2 likes
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CryoSat rocking and rolling

17/10/2011 1359 views 0 likes
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‘Roots2Share’ opening
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Greenland and the Netherlands look to CryoSat for answers o…

17/10/2011 975 views 0 likes
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Envisat image of the Arctic
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Arctic ice nears record low

14/09/2011 2357 views 1 likes
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Arctic sea-ice thickness
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New ice thickness map of the Arctic unveiled

21/06/2011 7522 views 5 likes
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HRH The Prince of Orange visits Greenland
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CryoSat Greenland camp receives royal guest

11/05/2011 1336 views 0 likes
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NASA aerial view of site
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ESA–NASA collaboration furthers sea-ice research

19/04/2011 1901 views 1 likes
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ESA Arctic ice campaign takes off

08/04/2011 976 views 0 likes
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CryoSat detects leads in sea ice
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CryoSat ice data now open to all

01/02/2011 3948 views 2 likes
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