9. Wideband Digital Backend
Summary The Wideband Digital Backend project focuses on the development and evaluation of the digital backend of the receiver for…
2. CryoRad
Summary
CryoRad is one of four mission ideas selected by ESA’s Programme Board for Earth observation to compete for becoming the agency’s twelfth Earth Explorer, with potential launch around 2030. It’s a single-satellite mission built around a broadband low-frequency microwave radiometer operating in the range 0.4 to 2 GHz with continuous frequency scanning. It represents a novel sensing concept designed to fill a critical observation gap in the cryosphere.
The mission targets three core scientific objectives: temperature profiles of Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, extending from surface to base; sea ice thickness and salinity; and sea surface salinity (SSS) measurements in cold waters. The result would be a step-change in how we observe and understand Earth’s polar regions.
Our contribution
We are involved at multiple strategic levels of the mission’s development.
On the technical side, we develop an end-to-end simulator that digitally reproduces the full satellite behavior: data formats, instrument noise, RFI scenarios, and instrumental signatures. The simulator allows the consortium to evaluate scientific feasibility and validate design choices before committing to later mission phases, a key input for the competitive selection process.
We also contribute scientifically through participation in the Sci-Re committee, responsible for defining the scientific requirements the future satellite will need to meet.
Key activities:
- Development of the end-to-end mission simulator
- Modeling of instrument behavior, noise, and RFI scenarios
- Scientific feasibility analysis ahead of later mission phases
- Contribution to the Sci-Re scientific requirements committee
- Technical input to the competitive Phase 0/A study
Dates
- ESA selection (Earth Explorer 12 candidate): April 2024.
- Current phase: Phase 0/A — competitive assessment study.
- Target launch: ~2030.
- Our involvement: Ongoing.
Partners
- European Space Agency (ESA).
- CNR-IFAC (Institute of Applied Physics, Italy) — mission lead, Giovanni Macelloni.
- The Ohio State University (Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, ElectroScience Laboratory).
- Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI).
- Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE), CNRS/UGA.
- Technical University of Denmark.
- The broader CryoRad scientific consortium.
