The six-week Copernicus Expansion Missions Sea Ice Experiment brings together researchers from institutions including the University of Calgary, the Technical University of Denmark, the Alfred Wegener Institute, NASA and ESA. The campaign focuses on validating and calibrating instruments for three missions in development: the Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer (CIMR), the Copernicus Polar Ice and Snow Topography Altimeter (CRISTAL), and the Copernicus Radar Observing System for Europe at L-band (ROSE-L).
All three are part of the six-mission Copernicus Sentinel Expansion suite that ESA is building on behalf of the European Union's Space Programme. The expansion missions are designed to fill gaps in current Copernicus observing capabilities and respond to EU policy priorities, with CIMR, CRISTAL and ROSE-L each measuring sea ice properties using different and complementary techniques.
Sea ice parameters including snow depth, snow salinity, ice thickness and surface roughness are changing rapidly in the Arctic and remain difficult to measure accurately from orbit. Field campaigns such as this one provide a critical bridge between instrument design in the laboratory and reliable satellite performance in space, even when instruments are based on well-established heritage designs. By comparing ground measurements with airborne data and existing satellite observations, scientists can calibrate sensors, improve retrieval algorithms and reduce uncertainties ahead of launch.
The campaign is specifically targeting first-year sea ice in conditions where saline layers are preserved at the base of the snow layer. That configuration is an important but poorly characterized feature that influences microwave scattering, snow-ice interactions and the accuracy of satellite data products. Cambridge Bay was selected because it offers representative first-year ice in a stable setting where ice drift does not disrupt repeated observations - a limitation that affected the earlier MOSAiC drifting-ice experiment on which this campaign's framework is modelled.
Teams are operating on the ice surface in freezing temperatures and strong winds, installing instruments to take coordinated measurements while aircraft fly overhead. Where scheduling allows, those aircraft are also under-flying existing satellites including ESA's CryoSat, Copernicus Sentinel-3 and NASA's ICESat-2, enabling direct comparison between ground observations, airborne remote sensing and orbital retrievals. Helicopters are being used to reach more remote measurement sites.
ESA Campaign Scientist Tania Casal described the ground measurement suite as exceptionally comprehensive, including scatterometer readings, snow pit surveys, magna probe transects and snow micro pen profiles, alongside numerous snow characterisation and geophysical techniques. Airborne instruments include laser and radar altimeters, snow radars and electromagnetic systems, providing data on snow depth, ice thickness, surface roughness and subsurface structure.
The coordinated dataset generated by the campaign will be used to refine the retrieval methods for CIMR, CRISTAL and ROSE-L, strengthening confidence in the data each satellite will deliver once operational.
Related Links
European Space Agency
Beyond the Ice Age
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