Polar explorers use satellite technology

May 5, 2006

Climate Change College explorers are using satellite technology developed by Inmarsat to stay in touch with the media from the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Students led by Dutch explorer Marc Cornelissen are on a 10-day field trip participating in the European Space Agency's experiment to determine whether global climate change is causing the polar ice caps to shrink.

The CryoSat satellite will monitor precise changes in the thickness of the ice sheets and floating sea ice, according to the European Space Agency.

The team can stay in touch with media organizations around the world by phone, e-mail and video link and also update their Web logs, using Inmarsat's newest satellite technology. Radio Holland loaned the expedition a Broadband Global Area Network terminal manufactured by Hughes, one of several companies now offering this equipment.

The network's introduction fills in coverage gaps left by limited terrestrial networks and is accessed by using a small, highly portable satellite terminal.

Inmarsat became interested in supporting the expedition after a suggestion from European Space Agency.

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