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Ice mission ready for launch

30 March 2010

A UK-led satellite designed to monitor changes in ice cover at the poles will launch at 14:57 UK time on 8 April 2010 from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The European Space Agency's CryoSat-2 (pictured, right) will measure the thickness of Arctic and Antarctic ice with unprecedented accuracy and tell scientists how melting polar ice affects ocean circulation patterns, sea level and global climate.

CryoSat-2 is the third of ESA's Earth Explorer missions and follows the successful launches of the GOCE (Gravity field and steady state Ocean Circulation Explorer) and SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) satellites last year. Its launch is a testament to Europe's commitment to the mission following the launch failure of CryoSat-1 in 2005.

CryoSat-2's chief scientist, Professor Duncan Wingham from the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling - part of the National Centre for Earth Observation - at University College London first proposed the satellite in 1999. He said, "Satellites have transformed our knowledge of what is happening to these distant and uninhabited parts of the planet. CryoSat-2 will help unravel the consequences of the dramatic changes in the poles that we've seen in the past two decades."

Professor Alan O'Neill, Director of the National Centre for Earth Observation said, "Measurements from CryoSat-2 are crucially important for scientists at the National Centre for Earth Observation who are at the forefront in monitoring Earth's changing ice cover."

CryoSat-2 will use an instrument called an altimeter to measure ice thickness. This works by recording the time it takes for pulses of microwave energy fired down at the ice to return to the satellite. Scientists can use the difference between how long it takes for the echoes to return from the top of ice floes and from the water in cracks in the ice to calculate how thick the ice is.

Significant retreats in summer Arctic sea ice in recent years means there's also more potential for winds to 'spin up' the Arctic Ocean. This could change ocean circulation patterns far beyond the Arctic - as far as the North Atlantic. Changes here could affect the UK's weather. CryoSat-2 will tell scientists how winds affect the Arctic Ocean by measuring changes in the height of the sea surface exposed between ice floes.

A second antenna will measure the ice's shape and so tell researchers about slopes and ridges at the edges of the great Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. This is important, because the edges are where the fastest changes are taking place.

CryoSat-2's ability to monitor changes at the poles will surpass the abilities of earlier ESA satellites - its radar has been specifically designed for the task and its orbit will cover much more of the Arctic and Antarctica than has previously been possible.

Further information

NERC Press Office
Natural Environment Research Council
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon, SN2 1EU
Tel: 01793 411561
Mob: 07917 557215

Contact information for scientists

Professor Duncan Wingham
Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, UCL
Tel: 020 7679 7870
Mob: 0790 964 4001

Professor Wingham is available for interview until the launch of CryoSat-2.

Professor Alan O'Neill
Director of the National Centre for Earth Observation
Tel: 0118 378 8317
Mob: 0776 437 1520

Professor O'Neill is available for interview until the launch of CryoSat-2.

Dr Richard Francis, CryoSat project manager for the European Space Agency (contact Clare Mattok at ESA on the phone number below for Richard's contact details).

Video footage available

https://mission-ftp1.iweb-ftp.co.uk/
Username: mission-bnsc
Password: space

Other press offices involved

Clare Ryan (UCL press office)
Media relations manager
Tel: 020 7679 9726
Mob: 07747 565 056

Clare Mattok (ESA communications department)
Communications manager (Paris, France)
Tel: 00 33 1 53 69 74 12
Mob: 00 33 6 75 69 58 63

Rachel Clarke (BNSC press office)
Press officer
Science and Innovation Desk
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)
Tel: 18002 020 7215 5945 (this is a text direct phone - please dial the number in full)
Mob: 0776 778 0910 (please note - text/email only)
Out of hours media calls: 07699 741220

Clair Passelle
Head of communications
British National Space Centre
Tel: 01793 418072
Mob: 07500 918995

Notes

1. CryoSat-2 will be launched at 14:57 GMT on Thursday 8 April 2010 from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

2. The CryoSat-2 launch can be watched via an ESA webcast.

3. Professor Duncan Wingham is the lead investigator of the CryoSat mission. CryoSat was the first ESA Earth Sciences mission selected in 1999 through open, scientific competition. Professor Wingham led the CryoSat proposal, which was selected ahead of 30 other proposed missions. ESA's Living Planet Programme is part of ESA's wider Earth Observation Envelope Programme.

4. The Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling is part of the National Centre for Earth Observation. The centre studies the ice sheets, sea ice, ocean circulation and sea level by combining satellite and field measurements with models. CPOM provides the scientific leadership for the European Space Agency's CryoSat-2 mission.

5. Founded in 1826, UCL (University College London) was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. In the government's most recent Research Assessment Exercise, 59 UCL departments achieved top ratings of 5* and 5, indicating research quality of international excellence.

6. The National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO), created on 1 April 2008, uses data from earth observation satellites to monitor global and regional changes in the environment to develop a detailed understanding of the natural world, so that we might predict future environmental conditions. The NCEO, under the directorship of Professor Alan O'Neill (University of Reading), is a partnership involving 26 universities and Research Centres and more than 100 scientists and is carrying out research in a wide range of areas including climate change, glaciology, tectonics and the carbon cycle. The NCEO also includes technology development, mission support and advises Nerc on its national and international investments in earth observation.

7. The Natural Environment Research Council funds world-class science, in universities and its own research centres, that increases knowledge and understanding of the natural world. It is tackling major environmental issues such as climate change, biodiversity and natural hazards. Nerc receives around £400m a year from the government's science budget, which is used to provide independent research and training in the environmental sciences.

8. The Natural Environment Research Council is a member of the British National Space Centre (BNSC), which is at the heart of UK efforts to explore and exploit space. BNSC is a partnership of six Government departments, two research councils, the Met Office and the Technology Strategy Board. It co-ordinates UK civil space activities and represents the UK at the European Space Agency.

9. The Natural Environment Research Council invests around £47m in ESA each year. This investment provides the UK with mission opportunities, the associated infrastructure and science support activities, along with access to ESA data for UK researchers. The NCEO is a key user of ESA data.

10. CryoSat-1 crashed into the northern Arctic Ocean shortly after lift-off from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia on 8 October 2005. The planned cut-off of the second stage engine of a modified Russian SS-19 ICBM did not take place because of a fault in the onboard flight control system.

11. A number of UK companies have contributed to the CryoSat-2 mission. ABSL Solutions provided the battery, SciSys developed onboard software, ComDev Europe provided the SIRAL Duplexer, Marotta provided the Reaction Control System and the University of London provided components of the science data processor and software for the mission simulator.

Press release: 12/10

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