The European Space Agency’s (ESA) CryoSat-2 satellite has delivered its first data since the satellite’s sophisticated radar instrument became operational.
CryoSat-2’s primary instrument, the synthetic aperture interferometric radar altimeter (SIRAL), has begun gathering the first radar echo data and relayed it to the ESA’s Kiruna ground station.
CryoSat lead investigator Duncan Wingham said that the first images were taken over the Antarctic’s Ross ice shelf, and they clearly show the ice cover and reflections from underlying layers.
CryoSat-2, launched on 8 April 2010 on a Dnepr rocket, is designed to study variations in Earth’s ice cover in its polar orbit and explore the impact of the variations on the planet’s climate.
The satellite will undergo an exhaustive commissioning phase lasting several months, during which, onboard systems and ground systems will be optimised to provide accurate ice thickness data following the launch and early orbit phase (LEOP).
