Date

Call for Proposals
CryoSat-2 Calibration/Validation Activities
European Space Agency

Proposal Submission Deadline: Saturday, 31 March 2007

For further information, please go to:
http://eopi.esa.int/CryoSat-2CalVal

or contact:
Mark Drinkwater
European Space Agency
E-mail: Mark.Drinkwater [at] esa.int


The European Space Agency (ESA) is calling for proposals for calibration
and validation activities as part of the CryoSat-2 mission scheduled for
launch in March 2009. The CryoSat-2 satellite will provide measurements
of mass and thickness fluctuations of the Earth's land and marine ice
fields. These data are important for testing and verification of
mesoscale and regional numerical models that include cryospheric
components, and for improving the understanding of present changes in
global sea level.

Proposals are invited from members of the international science
community with relevant experience conducting polar field experiments,
campaigns, and polar geophysical research using remote sensing data. ESA
welcomes the participation of institutes, research groups, and
scientists concerned with the study of sea ice thickness and land ice
mass imbalance, and those with expertise in altimeter validation
experiments and the retrieval of ice thickness and elevation from
altimeter measurements.

Specific areas in which the contribution of participants is welcome are:
- validation ground experiments providing independent measurements of
sea ice thickness and land ice elevation change;
- calibration and validation ground experiments to further the
understanding of the interaction of the radar echo with the sea ice and
land ice; and
- validation of the ice thickness and ice elevation retrieval
algorithms.

Detailed information on submitting proposals is available on the
CryoSat-2 Calibration/Validation website. Proposals must include
descriptions of the project, principal investigator, and data
requirements, and should be submitted before Saturday, 31 March 2007
at:
http://eopi.esa.int/CryoSat-2CalVal

For further information, please contact:
Mark Drinkwater
European Space Agency
E-mail: Mark.Drinkwater [at] esa.int