Outer Space: Europe's new satellite takes a closer look at polar ice

The European Space Agency (ESA) announced on Thursday the successful launch of a satellite to study the effects of climate change on the Earth's polar ice cover.

The satellite, known as the CryoSat-2, lifted off from Kazakhstan with the help of a Russian rocket and will orbit the Earth at a distance of 717 kilometers. Its specific mission is to measure changes in the thickness of the ice sheets spanning across Antarctica and Greenland, as well as variations in thickness of the ice floating in the polar oceans.

While previous satellites were able to capture images of the ice in these regions, the significance of the CryoSat-2 project lies in the precision of its measurements. With the CryoSat-2's help, scientists will be able to determine the thickness of polar ice to within one to three centimeters.

For more: Europe's new satellite takes a closer look at polar ice | Science & Technology | Deutsche Welle | 09.04.2010