What was the purpose of CryoVEx 2003?

The CryoVEx (CryoSat Validation EXperiment) 2003 campaign was a first comprehensive Arctic Ocean airborne and surface campaign, in support of the ESA satellite CryoSat, planned for launch late 2004.

The primary goal of CryoVEx 2003 was to provide coincident laser and 13.6 GHz interferometric radar measurements, in order to understand the penetration of CryoSat radar signals into polar sea-ice and continental ice caps. A secondary goal was to provide coincident sea-ice measurements of the radar/laser system and a helicopter-borne electromagnetic induction system (“EM bird”) capable of direct measurement of sea-ice thickness.

What was the outcome of CryoVEx 2003?

In general the objectives of the CryoVEx 2003 campaign were met. Installation of the complex radar and lidar equipment in a small Twin Otter aircraft was successful, and the equipment operated with few problems, despite temperatures at –30°C and below. The actual flown patterns were close to the planned ones, despite several days during the campaign with poor weather, especially in Svalbard. Two coincident helicopter/Twin Otter flights were done, yielding useful operational experience for future CryoSat validation activities.

Download the CryoVEx 2003 final report

Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-dspyy6t -CryoVEx 2003: "Airborne Lidar and Radar Measurements over Sea Ice and Inland Ice for CryoSat validation: CRYOVEX 2003 – Final Report."

The campaign data is available online via FTPS upon submission of a data access request. An active EO Sign In account is required to submit the request.

The data can be downloaded via an FTP client (e.g., FileZilla or WinSCP) using the option "Implicit FTP over TLS".

For further information about the EO Sign In Service you can visit TellUs.

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