Europe's first ice mission is an advanced radar altimeter specifically designed to monitor the most dynamic sections of Earth's cryosphere. It borrows synthetic aperture radar and interferometry techniques from standard imaging radar missions to sharpen its accuracy over rugged ice sheet margins and sea ice in polar waters. CryoSat-2 measures 'freeboard' - the difference in height between sea ice and adjacent water - as well as ice sheet altitude, tracking changes in ice thickness.
Group: Platform_Details
Entry_ID: CRYOSAT-2
Group: Platform_Identification
Platform_Category: Earth Observation Satellites
Platform_Series_or_Entity: Earth Explorers
Short_Name: CRYOSAT-2
End_Group
Group: Platform_Associated_Instruments
Short_Name: LRR
Short_Name: DORIS
End_Group
Group: Orbit
Orbit_Altitude: 717 km
Orbit_Inclination: 92 deg
Repeat_Cycle: 369 days with 30 day sub-cycle
Orbit_Type: LEO > Low Earth Orbit > Polar Non-Sun-Synchronous
End_Group
Creation_Date: 2010-05-07
Online_Resource: http://www.esa.int/esaLP/LPcryosat.html
Sample_Image: http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/EarthObservation/cryosat/4_sar_hz31_H.jpg
Group: Platform_Logistics
Launch_Date: 2010-04-08
Launch_Site: Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia
Design_Life: 3 Years
Primary_Sponsor: ESA
End_Group
End_Group (en)