From the Polar Expert Group (PEG) reports:

 

Sea-ice

  • An improvement of the sea-ice thickness accuracy for climate research community and better short-range forecasts for ship routing. Goal is 0.1m. For that purpose, better estimations of snow depth and freeboard are mandatory.
  • A daily coverage of sea-ice thickness, and near real time availability for operational use
  • An improvement of the measurement of sea ice thickness distribution for models and operational services

Ice sheet

  • An improvement of the accuracy of surface elevation measurement (goal is 0.5 meters)
  • An improvement of the accuracy & stability of surface elevation change measurement (goal is 0.1 m/year)
  • The latitudinal coverage (to within 2° latitude of the poles)
  • The temporal sampling frequency: Monthly-seasonal (ice margin); annual (interior).
  • The spatial resolution, goals are 1000 m (interior) and 50-100 m (ice margin).

 

Ocean

  • Prime importance that the orbit configuration allows the covering the central Arctic Ocean
  • Desirable improvements wrt CS2 capabilities regarding the lead detection
  • An improvement of the accuracy of sea-level anomaly over open-ocean & leads: goal is 2-3cm
  • Spatial sampling of Sea-Level Anomaly (SLA) and Mean Dynamic Topography (MDT): goal is 10km
  • Temporal sampling of SLA and MDT: Goals are daily sampling (SLA over open-ocean) & 10 days (SLA over leads & MDT over open ocean)