This is event is available for participation on an ongoing basis
English
As well as providing critical information about ice, CryoSat has also demonstrated that it can offer a valuable source of data for oceanography, hydrology and geodesy.
The conference therefore provides a forum for international scientists and operational users to present and share state-of-the-art CryoSat-based results, its decadal contribution to science and future perspectives in the following areas:
Satellite CryoSat from ESA detected that Arctic ice volume on November 2016 were the lowest and similar to records from the same month in 2011 and 2012. The ice has increased by only 10%, a low figure, for the beginning of the winter season.
CryoSat calculates surface height variation of ice with extreme precision thanks to tools like the radar altimeter that allow accurate documentation of changes in volume.
This information is fundamental to follow up weather variations and also provide information to maritime operators navigating in Polar Regions’ icy waters.
During 5 and 6 December 2013, a major storm passed through northern Europe coinciding with a period of high tides in the North Sea and resulting in extremely high sea levels – a ‘storm surge’. The effects of the storm surge resulted for the United Kingdom in the highest sea levels since the 1953 North Sea Floods, while parts of Hamburg were flooded in Germany. ESA’s CryoSat satellite passed over Kattegat and its radar altimeter measured the storm surge, providing an estimate of total water levels. The observations collected matched predictions, which helped to confirm the models.
ESA’s ice mission is now giving scientists a closer look at oceans, coastal areas, inland water bodies and even land, reaching above and beyond its original objectives. Launched in 2010, the polar-orbiting CryoSat was developed to measure the changes in the thickness of polar sea ice, the elevation of the ice sheets that blanket Greenland and Antarctica, and mountain glaciers.
Ocean measurements from ESA’s CryoSat mission are being exploited by the French space agency CNES to provide global ocean observation products in near-real time. Understanding sea-surface currents is important for marine industries and protecting ocean environments.
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