posted 04-09-2010 10:14 AM               

Successful Launch, Earth Observation Satellite Cryosat-2

A Russian Dnepr rocket successfully launched today at 9:57 (DST) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying on its board the satellite CryoSat-2.

CryoSat-2, a European Space Agency (ESA) satellite will be placed into orbit 700 km above the Earth and measure the change and thickness of ice in the Arctic.

Through partial funding provided by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Canadian scientists and researchers will contribute to this mission by analyzing and validating data captured by the satellite.

CryoSat-2, the most sophisticated satellite ever developed to study the Earth’s ice fields, will take 20 000 measurements per second over the next three years. The mission will deliver data on the rate of change of the ice thickness with an accuracy of within one centimetre.

Canadian scientists leading teams participating in this Earth Observation mission are:

• Prof. Martin Sharp (University of Alberta)
  
• Dr. Michael Demuth (Geological Survey of Canada
  
• Prof. Christian Haas (University of Alberta)
  
• Prof. Alexander Braun (University of Calgary)
  
• Prof. David Barber (University of Manitoba)
  
• Dr. Ingrid Perterson (Bedford Institute of oceanography, DFO)