CryoSat-2
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| CryoSat-2 | |
|---|---|
| Name | CryoSat-2 |
| Mission type | Earth observation |
| Operator | European Space Agency |
| COSPAR ID | 2010-013A |
| SATCAT | 36508 |
| Mission duration | Planned: 3.5 years, Elapsed: 14 years, 1 month, 24 days |
| Spacecraft bus | Myriade evolution |
| Manufacturer | EADS Astrium |
| Launch mass | 720 kilograms |
| Launch date | 8 April 2010, 13:57 UTC |
| Launch rocket | Dnepr |
| Launch site | Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 109/95 |
| Orbit reference | Geocentric orbit |
| Orbit regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Orbit periapsis | 717 km |
| Orbit apoapsis | 732 km |
| Orbit inclination | 92.0° |
| Orbit period | 99.2 minutes |
| Orbit repeat | 369 days |
| Apsis | gee |
CryoSat-2. It is a dedicated European Space Agency mission designed to precisely monitor changes in the thickness of polar ice sheets and sea ice floating in the oceans. The satellite provides critical data for understanding the Earth's cryosphere and its role in climate change. Its measurements are essential for improving predictions of sea level rise and changes in the global climate system.
Overview
The mission was developed following the loss of the original CryoSat-1 satellite due to a launch failure of its Rokot rocket in 2005. ESA's Earth Explorer program, which includes missions like SMOS and Swarm, approved the rebuild to address the urgent need for detailed ice sheet and sea ice thickness data. The spacecraft operates in a non-Sun-synchronous orbit to provide dense coverage over the Arctic and Antarctic regions, filling a major gap left by other observing systems such as NASA's ICESat.
Mission and objectives
The primary scientific goal is to determine regional and global trends in the thickness of land ice and marine ice. Specific objectives include measuring the ice sheet elevation change over Greenland and Antarctica to calculate their contribution to global sea level change. For sea ice, the mission aims to quantify the annual cycle of ice thickness and its interannual variability, which is a key indicator of the Arctic amplification of global warming. The data also supports operational services like the Copernicus Programme and studies of ocean circulation.
Spacecraft and instruments
The satellite is based on an enhanced Myriade platform built by EADS Astrium (now Airbus Defence and Space). Its sole payload is the sophisticated Synthetic Aperture Radar/Interferometric Radar Altimeter (SIRAL), developed by Thales Alenia Space. The SIRAL instrument operates in three distinct modes: a conventional pulse-limited mode for ice sheet interiors, a synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) mode for sea ice, and an innovative SAR interferometric (SARIn) mode for the steep margins of ice sheets and ice caps like those in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
Launch and orbit
It was successfully launched on 8 April 2010 aboard a Dnepr rocket from Site 109/95 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The launch was managed by the company Kosmotras. The spacecraft was inserted into a low Earth orbit with an average altitude of about 717 km and a high inclination of 92°, which is nearly polar. This specific orbit, with a long repeat cycle of 369 days, provides unprecedented coverage up to 88° latitude, maximizing observations over the polar regions.
Scientific results and data
The mission has produced a wealth of data, leading to numerous discoveries published in journals like *Nature* and Geophysical Research Letters. Key findings include detailed maps of Antarctic ice sheet basal melt rates, the detection of substantial volume loss from Patagonian ice fields, and the documentation of rapid sea ice thickness decline in the Arctic Ocean. Data is processed at the European Space Research Institute (ESRIN) and distributed to a global user community, including institutions like the University College London and the Alfred Wegener Institute.
Mission operations and status
The satellite is operated from the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. Despite its nominal design life of 3.5 years, the spacecraft remains in excellent health and continues to collect data, having far exceeded its planned duration. Its operations are coordinated with other missions such as Sentinel-3 as part of the broader European Space Agency's Earth observation strategy. The long-term data record is now considered critical for ongoing climate research and policy assessments by bodies like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Category:European Space Agency satellites Category:Earth observation satellites Category:Spacecraft launched in 2010