ESA Bulletin 122 (May 2005)
Since 1991, when the Agency’s first Earth-observation satellite ERS-1 was launched, ESA satellites have been providing scientists with crucial environmental data gathered from space. Climate change and the chemistry of our atmosphere, including ozone depletion and many other pressing questions, call for the availability of global satellite data sets if we are to gain a better understanding of the Earth as a global system. We still lack precise data sets showing the evolution of the sea ice and the land ice – a key parameter for the modelling and forecasting of our climate.
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This issue of the Bulletin carries a special feature on the soon to be launched Cryosat mission, whose data will fill this critical gap in our knowledge. The three articles provide an overview of this latest ESA Earth-observation mission, its scientific goals and the unique data products that it will provide.
Read entire foreword by V. Liebig (Director of ESA Earth Observation Programmes)
Foreword
Volker Leibig
CryoSat:A Mission to the Ice Fields of Earth
Duncan Wingham
The CryoSat System
– The satellite and its radar altimeter
Guy Ratier et al.
The CryoSat Data Products
– Their generation,in-situ validation and applications
Richard Francis et al.
Remote-Sensing and Humanitarian Aid
– A life-saving combination
Philippe Bally et al.
Five Years of Newton Science
Norbert Schartel & Fred Jansen
Navigating More Precisely with Laser Clocks
Gaetano Mileti et al.
The ESA Payloads for Columbus
– A bridge between the ISS and exploration
Giuseppe Reibaldi et al.
Engineering Standardization at ESA
– Improving technical quality and cost-effectiveness in space
Jean-Leon Cendral et al.