ICESat-2 will determine the mass of the Earth’s ice cover

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    NASA plans to launch the ICESat-2 satellite .
    It is designed to measure the mass of the Earth’s ice cover and is a continuation of the ICESat mission .
    During the measurement, three main functions will be performed: ICESat-2 will emit six laser beams, collect laser photons that return to the device after reflection from the Earth and determine the time they need for this.


    In this video, engineer Tyler Evans shows how a laser is transmitted from an ATLAS instrument to the ground.
    ATLAS is a topographic laser altimeter with advanced functionality. It emits laser pulses with a wavelength of 532 nm. Lidar will be the only instrument aboard the ICESat-2.
    Six laser beams will create 3 pairs of tracks, each pair of which will be 3.3 km wide.
    This mission plays an important role in the study of climate. The topographic data of the first mission in combination with the data of the second will allow us to estimate the change in ice volumes over the past 15 years.

    The launch is planned in 2017 .

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