NASA scientists flew a World War II-era aircraft over the Canadian Arctic in April 2026 to gather airborne data on sea ice thickness, timing their flights to coincide with satellite passes for coordinated observations. The two-week campaign involved researchers from JPL, ESA, Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute, and Canada's University of Calgary, who used cutting-edge sensors including a prototype microwave radiometer currently undergoing testing at JPL. The work prepares for the launch of a dedicated satellite sensor in about a year and helps scientists understand how rapidly Arctic sea ice is changing as the region becomes increasingly important for shipping and climate stability.
The team logged roughly 50 hours in the air, conducting flights over drifting ice near Inuvik and land-fast ice near Cambridge Bay while coordinating with existing satellites including NASA's ICESat-2, ESA's CryoSat-2, and the NASA-CNES SWOT mission. Combining airborne, orbital, and ground observations improves algorithms for measuring sea ice thickness, which depends on precise measurements of how high ice sits above water, snow depth, and microwave emissions. ESA is developing the CRISTAL mission with NASA cooperation, and instruments flown during the April campaign simulated what CRISTAL will carry, supporting validation work for both current and future Arctic monitoring capabilities.