Cryosat's altimetry observations agree well with independent measures of sea-ice thickness derived from aircraft surveys and under-ice moorings.
Figures indicate an average ice thickness of 1.15-3.75m, much of which might be expected to melt between June and September.
The drillings have revealed a typical ice thickness of between 1.5-2m which is far thinner than a previous generation of explorers encountered.
With 102 holes drilled so far, hundreds of measurements have been made of ice thickness and snow cover over the 243km covered to date.
Glaciers at altitudes below 5, 400m have lost about 1.35m in ice thickness per year since the late 1970s, twice the rate of the larger, high-altitude glaciers.
Using spacecraft data to make an Arctic-wide assessment of sea ice thickness , a University College London team found the 2008 winter maximum to be about 10% (26cm) below the 2002-2008 average.
One-hundred-and-two holes have been dug so far and 1, 100 measurements have been made of ice thickness, snow density and other features - data deemed vital by scientists evaluating the future of the Arctic sea-ice.
On Day 44 of the trek, both a radar device meant to measure the ice thickness and a satellite communications unit to relay the data are still not working - despite being brought back to the UK for repairs and then delivered to the team last week.
As one tenth of the ice sits above the water, it is then possible to work out the overall volume and thickness of ice in that location.
While Radarsat sensors cannot measure the thickness of ice already present, it is able to measure seasonal ice that is produced or lost each year.
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On 27 February they will start measuring the thickness of the ice around the North Pole.
Measuring the thickness of the ice will help scientists discover how quickly the icecap is melting.
Since the 1950s, submarines have measured the thickness of Arctic ice in specific places but never for the entire region.
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Mr Hadow, 46, Mrs Daniels, 44, and Mr Hartley, 40, will attempt to get base figures from which to measure changes in the thickness of the ice.
So by firing radio pulses through the overlying sheet and recording the return echoes, scientists can plot both the depth of the rock bed and - by definition - the thickness of the ice covering.
By flying transects over the ice, a picture of its thickness emerges.
He is paid to measure the thickness of the winter ice, ocean currents and weather patterns in and around Grise Fiord for research institutions in Toronto and Vancouver.
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Satellites have long been used to track ice extent (area), but calculating the thickness of the marine floes requires the overflying spacecraft to gauge the difference between the top of the ice surface and the top of the water - a relatively simple calculation then gives the overall volume.
This has allowed scientists to retrieve information about the Arctic Ocean region's gravity field, its surface circulation, and the thickness of its sea-ice cover.
When the explorer drills the ice to make a physical measurement of thickness, he will use the hole to lower a 4kg conductivity-temperature device (CTD) into the ocean below.
About 14 million years ago, a period of climate change caused the formation of the Antarctic ice sheet, which averages one mile in thickness and gets up to three miles thick in some parts.
The topographic map reveals that the ice cap is about 1, 200 kilometres across, with a maximum thickness of three kilometres.
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