CRISTRAL

Mission Overview

CRISTAL carries a dual-frequency radar altimeter (Ku and Ka-band) and a microwave radiometer to monitor sea-ice thickness and the depth of the overlying snow. The mission also measures changes in the height of ice sheets and glaciers around the world, providing essential data for understanding and quantifying cryospheric processes linked to climate change. CRISTAL supports maritime operations and safety in the rapidly changing polar seas, contributes to oceanography and sea-level studies, and enables the monitoring of rivers and lakes worldwide. The mission complements data from CRISTAL’s predecessor ESA’s CryoSat-2 Earth Explorer mission and fills critical observation gaps in the polar regions, where the effects of climate change are most pronounced. Scheduled for launch in 2028, CRISTAL is designed for an operational lifetime of approximately 7.5 years.

Key Application Areas

• Sea-ice thickness and snow depth monitoring
• Ice sheet and glacier elevation change
• Maritime safety in polar regions
• Sea-level change and oceanography

• Inland water monitoring (rivers and lakes)

   

Technical Documents & References

• CRISTAL Mission Requirements Document (v4.0, Jul 2024)
• CRISTAL on SentiWiki (Copernicus)
• CRISTAL on eoPortal
• Copernicus Sentinel Expansion missions
• ESA Scientific & Technical Mission Documents Library