Andrew Yee[_1_]
March 5th 07, 04:31 AM
European Space Agency
Press Release No. 11-2007
Paris, France 1 March 2007
ESA contribution to International Polar Year 2007-2008
Today marks the official start of International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008,
a large worldwide science programme focused on the Arctic and Antarctic. ESA
is contributing to this important initiative, which will constitute the most
intensive period of research on the polar regions in half a century.
Thousands of scientists from more than 60 countries will be conducting
research during this two-year programme. IPY 2007-2008 will be an intense,
internationally coordinated campaign of polar observations,
interdisciplinary research and analysis that will enhance our understanding
of physical, biological and social processes in the polar regions, examine
their globally-connected role in the climate system, and set the stage for
assessments, forecasts, recommendations, and future discovery.
Because of the remoteness and harshness of the polar regions, in situ
research is very difficult to carry out and has proved to be insufficient
for comprehensive studies. For the first time during an International Polar
Year, the scientific community has at its disposal satellite measurements
offering broad coverage of the polar regions and thus opening up new
scientific possibilities.
The last International Polar Year was in 1957-1958 and provided the
foundation for much of the polar science knowledge we have today. Given the
important role polar regions play for global change, there is now more than
ever a need for a coordinated international initiative to achieve a major
advance in polar science and in the understanding of the Earth's climate and
ecosystems.
For more than 20 years, ESA has been providing increasing support to the
cryosphere communities in the form of satellite data. Since the early 1990s,
ESA has been able to provide near-continuous satellite data on these regions
over long periods of time. Continuous data are essential for scientists to
identify and analyse long-term climatic trends and changes.
During IPY 2007-2008, ESA will make its legacy data available through an
extensive Earth observation data portfolio containing current and historical
data (dating back 15 years) from its ERS 1, ERS 2 and Envisat satellites, as
well as data collected from a number of non-ESA satellites.
Moreover, during this two-year period, ESA has committed to helping
scientists collect an increasing amount of satellite information,
particularly to understand recent and current distributions and variations
in snow and ice. ESA satellite data -- images, microwave data, and even
sensitive gravity measurements -- will be used to try to understand changes
in the global ice sheets.
For this purpose, ESA issued, at the end of 2006, a dedicated Announcement
of Opportunity for EO data provision for scientific research and application
development in support of IPY 2007-2008, with data provision to start in
spring 2007. All the data will be free of charge, and the 48 selected
projects from 12 different countries will cover both the Arctic and
Antarctic regions.
Data will be made available, and the exploitation of historical archives
possible, in connection with the following missions: ESA's Envisat, ERS 1
and 2, Proba, GOCE and SMOS (when ready), and third-party missions including
Japan's ALOS and the CNES, French Space Agency, Spot-4.
In 2009, when this IPY comes to an end, ESA will make another significant
contribution to research in the polar regions with the launch of Cryosat 2.
This spacecraft will monitor precise changes in the thickness of the polar
ice sheets and floating sea ice. The observations made over the three-year
lifetime of the mission will provide conclusive evidence on the rates at
which ice cover is diminishing.
Another initiative that began in 2006 and is supported by ESA is Polar View.
This is a satellite remote-sensing programme, funded through the Earthwatch
GMES Service Element (GSE) and focused on both the Arctic and the Antarctic.
It promotes the utilisation of satellites for the public good and in support
of public policy, in the areas of sustainable economic development, marine
safety, and the environment.
Polar View delivers services to stakeholder groups interested in issues
relating to those three areas in the polar regions. These groups include
policy-makers, government departments, northern residents, and public
agencies. Polar View also collaborates with the national ice centres to
generate and provide expanded and more detailed information sets. In
addition, Polar View provides information for certain private customers and
commercial interests, such as iceberg information for yacht races around the
Antarctic and for hunters and trappers travelling and working in the North.
Background to International Polar Years
IPY 2007-2008 aims to enhance international collaboration in polar region
research and monitoring, link researchers across different fields to address
questions and issues lying beyond the scope of individual disciplines,
ensure data collected under the IPY are made available in an open and timely
manner and intensify the recovery of relevant historical data and ensure
these also are made openly available.
There have been three IPYs over the last 125 years -- 1882-1883, 1932-1933
and 1957-1958. Scientific and exploration programmes that have arisen out of
each IPY have led to scientific advancements, new discoveries and greater
understanding of many geophysical phenomena that influence the Earth's
global systems.
IPY 2007-2008 is being co-sponsored by the International Council for Science
(ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and is endorsed by 31
nations. The idea of IPY was inspired by the Austrian explorer Karl
Weyprecht, who was a scientist and co-commander of the Austro-Hungarian
Polar Expedition of 1872-74.
For further information, please contact:
Mark Drinkwater
ESA/ESTEC
Head of Ocean/Sea-Ice Science unit
Tel: +31 71 565 4514
E-mail : mark.drinkwater @ esa.int
[NOTE: Images and weblinks supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMG1DN0LYE_index_1.html ]
Press Release No. 11-2007
Paris, France 1 March 2007
ESA contribution to International Polar Year 2007-2008
Today marks the official start of International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008,
a large worldwide science programme focused on the Arctic and Antarctic. ESA
is contributing to this important initiative, which will constitute the most
intensive period of research on the polar regions in half a century.
Thousands of scientists from more than 60 countries will be conducting
research during this two-year programme. IPY 2007-2008 will be an intense,
internationally coordinated campaign of polar observations,
interdisciplinary research and analysis that will enhance our understanding
of physical, biological and social processes in the polar regions, examine
their globally-connected role in the climate system, and set the stage for
assessments, forecasts, recommendations, and future discovery.
Because of the remoteness and harshness of the polar regions, in situ
research is very difficult to carry out and has proved to be insufficient
for comprehensive studies. For the first time during an International Polar
Year, the scientific community has at its disposal satellite measurements
offering broad coverage of the polar regions and thus opening up new
scientific possibilities.
The last International Polar Year was in 1957-1958 and provided the
foundation for much of the polar science knowledge we have today. Given the
important role polar regions play for global change, there is now more than
ever a need for a coordinated international initiative to achieve a major
advance in polar science and in the understanding of the Earth's climate and
ecosystems.
For more than 20 years, ESA has been providing increasing support to the
cryosphere communities in the form of satellite data. Since the early 1990s,
ESA has been able to provide near-continuous satellite data on these regions
over long periods of time. Continuous data are essential for scientists to
identify and analyse long-term climatic trends and changes.
During IPY 2007-2008, ESA will make its legacy data available through an
extensive Earth observation data portfolio containing current and historical
data (dating back 15 years) from its ERS 1, ERS 2 and Envisat satellites, as
well as data collected from a number of non-ESA satellites.
Moreover, during this two-year period, ESA has committed to helping
scientists collect an increasing amount of satellite information,
particularly to understand recent and current distributions and variations
in snow and ice. ESA satellite data -- images, microwave data, and even
sensitive gravity measurements -- will be used to try to understand changes
in the global ice sheets.
For this purpose, ESA issued, at the end of 2006, a dedicated Announcement
of Opportunity for EO data provision for scientific research and application
development in support of IPY 2007-2008, with data provision to start in
spring 2007. All the data will be free of charge, and the 48 selected
projects from 12 different countries will cover both the Arctic and
Antarctic regions.
Data will be made available, and the exploitation of historical archives
possible, in connection with the following missions: ESA's Envisat, ERS 1
and 2, Proba, GOCE and SMOS (when ready), and third-party missions including
Japan's ALOS and the CNES, French Space Agency, Spot-4.
In 2009, when this IPY comes to an end, ESA will make another significant
contribution to research in the polar regions with the launch of Cryosat 2.
This spacecraft will monitor precise changes in the thickness of the polar
ice sheets and floating sea ice. The observations made over the three-year
lifetime of the mission will provide conclusive evidence on the rates at
which ice cover is diminishing.
Another initiative that began in 2006 and is supported by ESA is Polar View.
This is a satellite remote-sensing programme, funded through the Earthwatch
GMES Service Element (GSE) and focused on both the Arctic and the Antarctic.
It promotes the utilisation of satellites for the public good and in support
of public policy, in the areas of sustainable economic development, marine
safety, and the environment.
Polar View delivers services to stakeholder groups interested in issues
relating to those three areas in the polar regions. These groups include
policy-makers, government departments, northern residents, and public
agencies. Polar View also collaborates with the national ice centres to
generate and provide expanded and more detailed information sets. In
addition, Polar View provides information for certain private customers and
commercial interests, such as iceberg information for yacht races around the
Antarctic and for hunters and trappers travelling and working in the North.
Background to International Polar Years
IPY 2007-2008 aims to enhance international collaboration in polar region
research and monitoring, link researchers across different fields to address
questions and issues lying beyond the scope of individual disciplines,
ensure data collected under the IPY are made available in an open and timely
manner and intensify the recovery of relevant historical data and ensure
these also are made openly available.
There have been three IPYs over the last 125 years -- 1882-1883, 1932-1933
and 1957-1958. Scientific and exploration programmes that have arisen out of
each IPY have led to scientific advancements, new discoveries and greater
understanding of many geophysical phenomena that influence the Earth's
global systems.
IPY 2007-2008 is being co-sponsored by the International Council for Science
(ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and is endorsed by 31
nations. The idea of IPY was inspired by the Austrian explorer Karl
Weyprecht, who was a scientist and co-commander of the Austro-Hungarian
Polar Expedition of 1872-74.
For further information, please contact:
Mark Drinkwater
ESA/ESTEC
Head of Ocean/Sea-Ice Science unit
Tel: +31 71 565 4514
E-mail : mark.drinkwater @ esa.int
[NOTE: Images and weblinks supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMG1DN0LYE_index_1.html ]