Click here to download Pole Watch from the App Store
As scientists have predicted that due to the combination of summer ice melting, annual decrease in ice extent and ice pack drift driven by wind and current there may soon be open water at the North Pole for the first time in recorded history you will want to be the first to see it.
How far will the ice shrink this year? Will open water reach the North Pole this year? Watch these historic events unfold with the Pole Watch app!
The App comes pre-loaded with three historic Ice Extent Maps and the latest Satellite image of the North Pole. It will then download on a daily basis* the new maps so that you watch the ice coverage change and zoom in on an actual satellite picture of the North Pole. Youll get a notification each time a new map has been downloaded so you can be first to see whats happening to the arctic ice.
The App also contains information about the North Pole Watch project, polar science and interpretation advice for the Satellite imagery. Theres a link to the companion website at North Pole Watch website where you can find out more about the project, those involved and see higher resolution versions of the images in the App. Plus theres other interesting information about the state of the poles, with inputs from polar scientists such as Dr Seymour Laxon of the UCL CryoSat team.
How did we get these images? The Telespazio group have exploited their unique access to the COSMO-SkyMed satellite constellation to bring you the North Pole Watch. The COSMO-SkyMed system is the only one designed to be able to image the North Pole utilising standard very wide field of view operating modes and regardless of cloud cover as it is a radar.
Telespazio VEGA UK has combined this COSMO-SkyMed data with polar ice extent monitoring data to show the whole approach of the ice edge towards the pole and to compare events at the last record minimum in 2007 to this years new record minimum.
*Images are uploaded daily Monday to Friday.
NOTE: You need to accept the Push Notification on the App as it will send you a message at 12noon GMT when new images are available for the App. If you download the App after 12noon GMT you will not receive a new image until the following day.