CryoSat planning document for Norwegian pre-launch activities

In the period up to 2005 – 2006, before CryoSat data becomes available for scientific and operational users, the main activities will be to prepare and implement CalVal experiments as outlined in chapter 2 and 3. This is particular important since SIRAL represent a new generation radar altimeter data, and the experience of using this kind of data to retrieve land and sea ice parameters is very limited. In fact, only aircraft data from the D2P instrument exist which are comparable to the CryoSat data. The results of the D2P flights have only recently been published.
The Norwegian participation in the CalVal activities is quite significant, where resources in the Svalbard area are of special relevance for the CalVal programme. The first extensive CalVal experiment (CRYOVEX) was carried out in Svalbard and Fram Strait in April 2003. According to the CryoSat Validation Implementation Plan there will be validation campaigns with Norwegian participation in 2004, 2005 and up to October 2006, two years after the launch of CryoSat. The purpose of the calval activities is not only to establish reliable data products, but also to train scientist in using the data for monitoring of cryospheric parameters