This image may not be used to state or imply ESA endorsement of any company or product CryoSat-2 satellite. Computer artwork of the European Space Age
This image may not be used to state or imply ESA endorsement of any company or product CryoSat-2 satellite. Computer artwork of the European Space Agency's CryoSat-2 satellite measuring freeboard sea ice. Cryosat-2 was launched on 8th April 2010 to replace the original CryoSat, which crashed due to a launch failure in October 2005. The satellite carries the Synthetic Aperture Interferometric Radar Altimeter (SIRAL) and is intended to measure, and then monitor, changes in the thickness of marine ice floating in the polar oceans and variations in the thickness of the ice sheets that overlie Greenland and Antarctica. CryoSat can distinguish between altimetry signals returned from sea ice and open water - the difference between the two is known as the 'freeboard', which can be used to derive ice thickness.
Size: 2894px × 3619px
Photo credit: © EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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