For the 4th International Polar Year (IPY)—which started in 2007, 50 years after the last one, and runs until March 2009—the global scientific community is focusing on the polar regions in an effort to answer the questions everyone is asking about environmental change. To this end, new space technologies are giving scientists a head start in understanding the key role of the polar regions in shaping environmental and climate change.
Spot Image and CNES are taking an active interest in these issues and supplying satellite data for IPY research programmes. Earth-observing satellites are mapping the poles to provide scientists with a more precise picture of how glaciers are changing and to help them understand the impacts of climate change on our planet. Spot Image and CNES have joined the SPIRIT project (SPOT 5 stereoscopic survey of Polar Ice: Reference Images and Topographies) in partnership with French survey and mapping agency IGN and the LEGOS space geophysics and oceanography research laboratory.
More information on Spot Image's website : http://www.spotimage.fr/web/en/1587-international-polar-year.php
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