NASA DC-8 underflies CryoSat-2

On 20 April 2010, NASA flew a DC-8 directly under CryoSat-2 orbiting above. The DC-8 flight trajectory is marked in yellow and CryoSat-2's orbit is in orange. The DC-8, equipped with instruments to measure ice elevation, is used as part of NASA's Operation Ice Bridge campaign. The measurements acquired by NASA offer an early opportunity to check the quality of the newly launched CryoSat-2 satellite data over sea ice.