Led by Dutch polar explorer Marc Cornelissen, the students have set up camp on the ice and are assisting with experiments which will be used to validate results from the CryoSat mission. Ground measurements made by the students will be compared with those obtained from an aircraft carrying the ASIRAS radar altimeter on-board to simulate CryoSat measurements.
The CryoSat-2 mission is expected to be launched in March 2009 and will answer the question of whether global climate change is causing the polar ice caps to shrink, a contentious issue in the global warming debate. CryoSat will do this by monitoring precise changes in the thickness of the polar ice sheets and floating sea ice.
On 3 May, the team arrived by helicopter from Ilulissat to a datapoint location designated T05 located in the ice cap. In daytime temperatures of minus 20 degrees centigrade, the students are conducting field work in the area around T05 before departing again for Ilulissat on 10 May.
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To allow the team to stay in touch with media organizations around the world by phone, e-mail and video link and also to update their web logs, Inmarsat has provided free use of one of their newest satellites and Radio Holland have loaned the expedition a BGAN terminal, several companies are now offering this equipment. |
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BGAN Terminal |
The Inmarsat-4 F2 satellite located at 53 deg west became operational in late April 2006. It consists of a constellation of two satellites and a third held on the ground as reserve with potential coverage over 85% of the Earth's surface and 98% of its population. Ilulissat, where a trial took place earlier this week, is located at 69 deg North, well within range of Inmarsat's maximum northerly reach of 80 deg North.
Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN)
BGAN, the payload aboard the Inmarsat satellite, which is making this possible was conceived in response to the demand for mobile broadband data. Previous solutions found it difficult to combine high bandwidth with wide coverage, reliability and portability. The Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) system, designed to operate with the Inmarsat-4 satellites, provides breakthrough services that meet all of these requirements.
Staff can work collaboratively and wirelessly, making simultaneous voice and broadband data connections, before packing up and moving on in the time it takes to stow a laptop PC and BGAN satellite terminal. In fact, using a BGAN terminal is like carrying around a WiFi hotspot in your briefcase.
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BGAN's introduction fills in coverage gaps left by limited terrestrial networks. It is accessed by using a small, highly portable satellite terminal, which is quick to set up and low-cost. In many instances, using BGAN airtime is actually cheaper than international voice and GPRS roaming on cellular networks. |
Inmarsat became interested in supporting the expedition after a suggestion from the European Space Agency. "Establishing reliable broadband satellite communication so far north and under such extreme conditions demonstrates both the capabilities of BGAN," explains Mr Juan Riviera Castro, Mobile Communications Systems Engineer for ESA and Technical Officer for the BGAN Extension project. "ESA supported this activity because mobile satellite communication is the only practical way of bringing advanced communication means to the world."
Inmarsat has been working with ESA since 2003 to bring the benefits of BGAN to the maritime, aeronautical and land-vehicular environments. This is being carried out in a follow-on project called 'The BGAN extension'.
To read more about BGAN click on related links at the top-right of this page.
Images: Marc Cornelissen, Inmarsat
