Swath scanning laser altimeter

Description

DTU Space is heavily involved in ESA’s airborne satellite calibration and validation campaigns in polar regions. To secure the DTU Space instrument package is living up to the needs for validation of current (ESA CryoSat, NASA ICESat-2) and to exploit the precision of future dual-frequency satellite missions (such as Copernicus high-priority candidate mission CRISTAL) it is of vital importance to purchase a swath scanning laser altimeter. The laser altimeter shall be a compact system adapted to a mid-sized aircraft and capable of measuring the surface of sea ice, land ice and ocean water. As the laser scanner system will be used together with airborne radar altimeters, the laser scanner shall, as a minimum, be operable within ranges of 300-1000 m for reflective targets of ≥ 10%. The purchase is a vital part of the nationally funded project Greenland Integrated Observing System (GIOS) and contributes to the development of a new research infrastructure providing a much-required sustained and long-term observation network of the central climate around Greenland representing not only entire Greenland but also a climate gradient representing the Arctic as a whole.