The new CryoSat App automatically updates CryoSat's current position. Users can also track the satellite's position in relation to the iPhone or iPad's geographical location.
CryoSat is measuring the thickness of polar sea ice and monitoring changes in the ice sheets that blanket Greenland and Antarctica. The CryoSat iPhone and iPad application”the CroySat App”now is available at Apple’s App Store. The CryoSat App's main menu provides access to four sections: mission description, a 3-D model of the satellite, position tracking and data visualization.
In the first section, users can easily find information on the CryoSat mission, including images, videos, archived news and an overview of how CryoSat obtains and delivers data.
The 3-D model feature allows users to zoom in on how the satellite is built and discover its instruments, such as the radar altimeter for measuring ice thickness.
Information on CryoSat's current position is automatically updated, including its visibility over selected ground stations. Users can also track the satellite's position in relation to the iPhone or iPad's geographical location. But it's the data feature that makes this app unique. Not only does it give access to all of CryoSat's measurements, it can help you visualize the ice sheets by providing a vertical profile over the area.
All geophysical parameters stored in the CryoSat products can be easily displayed at the touch of your fingertips as soon as they are generated on the ground. Users can select the day and orbit from which they want to extract the data, and view Earth's ice profile from that orbit.
The European Space Agency has a new Earth Observation Data Policy, which allows for free and open access to satellite data. Since its launch in April 2010, CryoSat-2 has been collecting data to improve our understanding of the relationship between ice and climate. In June 2011, the first map of Arctic sea-ice thickness was unveiled. The satellite will continue to monitor the changing ice for years to come.
Source: European Space Agency
