CryoSat-2 was successfully launched by the European Space Agency fifteen years ago today on 8th April 2010.
To mark the day, we’ve put together this short history of CryoSat-2 and how this fantastic satellite mission has contributed to polar science.
The original CryoSat-1 mission was proposed by CPOM’s Founder, Sir Duncan Wingham, in 1998 and launched in 2005; however, a programming issue with the rocket meant that this satellite was lost immediately after launch.
Its successor, CryoSat-2 was launched in in 2010 with CPOM Director Andy Shepherd as the mission’s Principal Scientific Advisor. CryoSat-2 was designed to last approximately 5 years, but it is still in orbit today and the mission has now been extended until 2028.
CryoSat-2 uses a radar instrument called SIRAL (Synthetic Aperture Interferometric Radar Altimeter), designed to measure Earth’s land and sea ice. It can measure changes at the margins of vast ice sheets and floating ice in polar oceans. SIRAL can not only detect tiny variations in the height of the ice but also measure sea level with unprecedented accuracy.
Here are just some of the ways CPOM has used CryoSat data in the last fifteen years:
Monitoring ice sheet mass balance
The CPOM-led IMBIE Project (Ice Sheet Mass Balance Intercomparison Project) provides a long-term record of polar ice sheet melting in Greenland and Antarctica from community submitted estimates derived from satellite observations. Taking advantage of data from missions including CryoSat-2, IMBIE has made it possible to chart polar ice sheet mass change every year, ensuring the scientific community has the very latest estimates.
Understand the dynamics of sea ice
This recent research led by CPOM Associate Investigator Harry Heorton, uses the “consistent, good coverage” sea ice thickness data from CryoSat-2 to give an estimate of sea ice volume from 2010 – 2022. Take a look at this ESA article to find out more.
Detecting changes in the subglacial lakes
Led by CPOM Associate Investigator Noel Gourmelen (The University of Edinburgh & Earthwave), this research on sudden drainage events of subglacial lakes uses European Space Agency – ESA CryoSat-2 data, combined with computer models of glacier flow and ocean currents through the ESA FutureEO Science for Society 4D Antarctica project.
Improving climate models
Data from CryoSat-2, and other Earth observation missions, helps scientists to project future changes to the Earth’s ice and its impact on sea level rise by providing boundary conditions for numerical models and improving understanding of key ice loss mechanisms. CryoSat-2 data has been used in simulations from computer models such as BISICLES , which has been integrated into the UK Earth System Model (UKESM) as well as used in the Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for CMIP6 (ISMIP6).
Visit the CPOM data portal to see CryoSat measurements of sea ice, ice sheets, ice shelves and ice velocity.
