MAIRES

The objective of the MAIRES project is to develop methodologies for satellite monitoring of Arctic glaciers, sea ice and icebergs. Methodologies to retrieve quantitative information from the ESA and RKA data will be developed, and examples of satellite derived products for each of the three thematic areas will be presented. The main satellite data will be Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), optical and infrared images, radar altimeter data, passive microwave data and geoid data fro GOCE. Results from the proposal can contribute to improved understanding of climate change and provide useful data for scientists, policy-makers and the general public. The MAIRES project will demonstrate the benefits of combining Earth Observation data from European and Russian satellites for operational mapping, interpretation and forecast of land and sea ice variations in the Eurasian Arctic. Satellite-derived data collected over many years can show seasonal and interannual variability of land ice, sea ice and icebergs. The results will be disseminated to users groups including climate research and operational users. The project will establish cooperation between ongoing GMES projects related to the cryosphere and Russian scientists, users and stakeholders.

The MAIRES project is focussed on the Barents and Kara Sea region (Fig. 1). A summary presentation of the project and main results from year 1 and 2 are available below.