European satellite confirms UW numbers: Arctic Ocean is on thin ice By Hannah Hickey (via university of Washington press release) The September 2012 record low in Arctic sea-ice extent was big news, but a missing piece of the puzzle was lurking below the ocean’s surface. What volume of ice floats on Arctic waters? And how…
From the European Space Agency: CryoSat goes to sea CryoSat was launched in 2010 to measure sea-ice thickness in the Arctic, but data from the Earth-observing satellite have also been exploited for other studies. High-resolution mapping of the topography of the ocean floor is now being added to the ice mission’s repertoire. The main objective…
From the European Space Agency (ESA): New ice thickness map of the Arctic unveiled The first map of sea-ice thickness from ESA’s CryoSat mission was revealed today at the Paris Air and Space Show. This new information is set to change our understanding of the complex relationship between ice and climate. From an altitude of…
NOTE: The image below is NOT sea ice thickness, but ocean topography. Radar data from the European satellite has been used to make a map of ocean circulation across the Arctic basin. Cryosat’s primary mission is to measure sea-ice thickness, which has been in sharp decline in recent decades.