The European Space Agency (ESA) has disclosed that its ice mission dubbed CryoSat is the first satellite that can provide information on Arctic sea-ice thickness in near-real time. This would help in maritime activities in the polar region.

Arctic sea-ice thickness measurement is the main indicator of global climate change and of the state of the Arctic itself.

ESA’s satellite has completed five years in orbit. It has a radar altimeter that can ‘see’ through clouds and in the dark, and can provide continuous measurements of polar ice thickness.

The satellite, with the help of specialist data processing provided by the UK’s Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM), can now deliver the measurements within two days of acquisition through a website launched today.

For managing and planning the activities, affected by Arctic sea ice, such as shipping, tourism, Arctic exploration and search and rescue, the rapid data processing is very important.

Professor Andy Shepherd, CPOM Director and the CryoSat’s principal scientific advisor, said, “This new capability goes far beyond CryoSat’s original purpose, which was to collect measurements for scientific research. The mission is now an essential tool for a wide range of services operating in areas of the planet where sea ice forms”.

Economic growth is rapidly increasing in the Arctic, and with this the timely and routine information on sea-ice thickness will be helpful in ensuring that users of the Arctic can plan and carry out their operations safely and with care.

This would also prove ease the scientific research in the polar region, improving the understanding of how this sensitive environment is responding to climate change.

According to the latest measurements available on the new website, at present, the sea ice around Norway’s Svalbard Archipelago is only a meter thick. It is approximately half of what it was in the winter of 2011 just after CryoSat was launched.