Esa and Nasa line up satellites to measure Antarctic sea-ice

At present, scientists use really quite old climatology models to gauge the likely depth of snow cover when observing sea-ice in both the Arctic and the Antarctic. And while these models still work reasonably well in the north, they are next to useless in the south. "Having Icesat and Cryosat work together will be like having this self-contained measurement system where we don't have to rely on outdated data-sets anymore," explained Nasa Icesat scientist Dr Rachel Tilling. "In future, we will more accurately be able to estimate the snow...