Primary instrument is delivered for ESA's CryoS...( Due for launch next spring ESA's ice m...),Health

Developed by Alcatel Space, the SIRAL radar altimeter is the key instrument to be carried on the CryoSat mission. Its design is based on heritage from existing radar altimeters but with a number of sophisticated enhancements to overcome the challenges of measuring two different kinds of ice cover. SIRAL will be able to acquire very precise measurements of the thickness of relatively thin floating sea-ice so that annual variations can be observed, and also accurately survey the surface of polar ice-sheets, which are kilometres thick, in order to detect any small changes.

CryoSat is the first Earth Explorer satellite to be launched as part of ESA's Living Planet Programme. It is now generally agreed that the Earth's atmosphere is warming, however, it is very difficult to predict what effect this is having on polar ice cover. Since ice plays such an important role in the regulation of the Earth's climate and sea-level height, it is crucial to determine any change in the thickness of marine and continental ice cover.

Orbiting the Earth at an unusually high inclination and reaching latitudes of 88 North and South on every orbit, CryoSat will provide estimates of sea-ice thickness for the whole Arctic basin and monitor thickness changes in ice sheets, particularly around the edges where icebergs break off. The main aim of the mission is to provide conclusive evidence as to whether the ice is really thinning and consequently advance our understanding of the relationship between ice and global climate. In order to meet the mission's demanding measuring requirements, an extremely specialised radar altimeter had to be developed and the result is the highly innovative SIRAL instrument. Weigh
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Contact: Michael Rast
michael.rast@esa.int
31-071-565-4465
European Space Agency
6-Oct-2004