CryoSat is an altimetry satellite built by the European Space Agency (ESA) and dedicated to polar observation. The mission determines variations in the extent and thickness of the Earth's continental ice sheets and polar sea ice, and tests the prediction of global ice loss due to global warming.

Launched in April 2010, CryoSat is Europe's first dedicated ice mission. It provides multi-year elevation data at latitudes never reached before by a satellite altimeter. CryoSat carries sophisticated technologies to measure changes at the margins of the vast ice sheets that cover Greenland and Antarctica and marine ice floating in the polar oceans. By accurately measuring thickness changes in both types of ice, CryoSat will provide information to contribute to a better understanding of the role ice plays in the Earth system.

Alongside CryoSat’s contribution to the sea ice and land ice communities, CryoSat data is used widely by a number of other scientific communities including meteorology, oceanography, marine gravity, coastal zones and hydrology.

For more information, please visit the CryoSat Mission pages. A CryoSat e-book is also available to download.