With the successful completion of the CRISTAL Critical Design Review, a Call for Applications for Phase D-E1 MAG membership for CRISTAL was released on 17th July (at noon CEST) and will remain open until 11th September (noon CEST).
About CRISTAL
The Copernicus CRISTAL mission is designed to monitor and measure changes in the Earth’s cryosphere, specifically the thickness of sea ice, the overlying snow, and the elevation of land ice. The primary measurement principle involves dual-frequency radar altimetry, utilizing both Ku and Ka bands. The inclusion of the Ka band allows the measurement of snow depth on top of the ice, thereby improving the accuracy of ice thickness measurements and offering better insights into the processes affecting polar ice coverage and global sea levels. The mission also includes the AMR-CR microwave radiometer provided by NASA-JPL for accurate estimation of the wet tropospheric path delay and to aid ice and snow classification.
CRISTAL aims to enhance the understanding of cryosphere dynamics, contribute to climate change research, and support operational ice services. By continuing and operationalizing the observations initiated by the ESA Explorer CryoSat mission, CRISTAL ensures long-term data continuity for climate monitoring and forecasting. The mission also contributes observations of ocean topography and sea state up to the polar seas, as well as global observations of inland water levels.
About the Mission Advisory Group for Phases D/E1
The objective of the CRISTAL Mission Advisory Group for Phases D/E1 is to advise ESA on the development and commissioning of the Copernicus Sentinel Expansion Mission CRISTAL. User Requirements identified under the responsibility of the European Commission (EC) have been consolidated in the CRISTAL Mission Requirements Document (MRD), and used throughout the Phase B2/C activities to guide design consolidation activities. During Phases D and E1 ESA will closely collaborate with the EC to ensure that there will be a seamless flow of information between the space and ground segments, and the other components of the targeted operational service(s).
In this context, the CRISTAL Mission Advisory Group (MAG) for Phases D/E1 is tasked with providing advice to ESA and EC as follows:
- Support, guidance and advice on:
- trade-off considerations between the core and add-on options in the implementation of the space and ground components,
- instrument calibration (on-ground/in-orbit, as necessary),
- refining Level 1 & 2 products and product quality requirements, and specifying requirements for new products based on the consolidated design of the mission,
- specification and approaches to derive uncertainty estimates at L1b and L2, and verification of the uncertainties,
- evolution of the L1 and L2 retrieval algorithms,
- requirements, methods and accuracy of geophysical validation,
- study and campaign requirements, including for end-to-end product calibration/validation,
- preparation for Phase E1 calibration, validation and verification activities and coordination of international validation contributions,
- end-to-end performance simulations for the space component,
- promoting the mission using presentations and publications.
- Members may be asked, within reasonable effort, to help generating documentation or presentation material addressing specific topics.
- Members will be expected to meet on an ad hoc basis up to four times a year, as needed.
- Membership of the group is not supported by consultancy contracts, though the Agency will cover necessary travel and subsistence. Exceptions may occur when specific tasks require particular effort or when members are involved in scientific study contracts.
- Membership of the Group is expected to last from the start of Phase D into the commissioning Phase E1. Group membership and Terms of Reference will be reviewed at the In-Orbit Commissioning Review during phase E1, in particular to assess the scope/need for extension of the MAG activities.
- Any member of this Group shall be obliged to declare any potential conflict of interest in relation to this activity.
- A member of the Group cannot be a member of, advisor to, or consultant to, any industrial consortium awarded the Phase B2/C/D/E1 industrial study contracts run by the respective Agenc(ies) for this mission.
- A member of the Group shall be independent from ESA and/or EUMETSAT Advisory Boards to Earth Observation Programmes, which comprise Member State Delegates (e.g. Programme Board for Earth Observation, and the Data Operations, Scientific and Technical Advisory Group). Members shall not be Delegates or engaged in an advisory capacity to Member State Delegations.
- All members of the Group shall sign a Non-Disclosure Understanding (NDU) to safeguard proprietary information and intellectual property.
- All Communications, Press Releases, Publications or publicly distributed material concerning the candidate Mission shall be discussed and the content agreed with ESA (and/or EUMETSAT) prior to release.
In line with established procedures, the European Space Agency invites Earth Observation experts to apply by uploading a Curriculum Vitae outlining qualifications and experience relevant to the CRISTAL mission. Applicants will find the Scope, Terms of Reference, etc. of the respective Advisory Groups on the website after registering and validating their user account. Membership applications will be evaluated and selections announced in the fourth Quarter, 2024.