Global Climate Change Blog
A New Tool to Measure Sea Ice Thickness
Jul 13, 2011; 4:44 PM ET
Scientists studying the ice in the polar regions are now getting critical information about the thickness of sea ice from the new European Space Agency's Cryosat-2 satellite.
The satellite has been operating over the past 7 months, retrieving detailed, critical data in regards to the sea ice thickness over the Arctic.
The satellite uses a radar altimeter on board to measure the height of features such as snow and sea ice in the polar regions.
The satellite travels 700 km above the earth's surface and can reach an earth latitude of 88 degrees from the equator. Thanks to CryoSat's orbit, ice thickness close to the North Pole can be seen for the first time, according to the ESA.
The ESA released their first preliminary map of the ice and snow thickness (below) from the January to February 2011 time period in the Arctic region. At that time the Arctic sea ice was approaching its annual maximum.
In order to understand fully how climate change is affecting the fragile polar regions, there is a need to determine exactly how the thickness of the ice is changing, according to ESA.
The results are very preliminary and adjustments may be needed, but the image below gives you a good example of what the Cryosat-2 can do.
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or AccuWeather.com
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