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Launched in April 2010, Cryosat’s primary mission is to measure sea-ice thickness, however recent radar data from the European satellite has been used to make a map of ocean circulation across the Arctic basin.

These first observations offer mission scientists the unique opportunity to build a map of water surface height, which dictates the direction and speed of subsequent ocean currents. As the mission progresses, the data-set delivered by Cryosat will improve, and in time will provide telling evidence of any changes in Arctic Ocean circulation.

Clearly evident in the map below (strong red patch), released by ESA, is the Beaufort Gyre, a great clockwise rotation of water that shifts sea-ice around the Arctic.

Also visible are the topographic features related to the Transpolar Drift, which routinely moves sea-ice across the Arctic from the Russian side of the basin; and the East Greenland Current that carries much of the ice that gets exported towards the Atlantic.

Cryosat has a very important mission to perform in monitoring sea-ice thickness and other climate conditions in the Arctic; sea-ice levels have dramatically retreated in summer months, at a far faster rate than what the majority of climate computer models had forecast. These changes could have far-reaching effects much further South, and Cryosat’s role is therefore a vital one.

For full information on the Cryosat-2 mission, visit the ESA website.