Center for Remote Sensing and Integrated Systems (CReSIS)

What Center for Remote Sensing and Integrated Systems (CReSIS) does

The Center for Remote Sensing and Integrated Systems (CReSIS) is an NSF Science and Technology Center housed at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, established in 2005 with a $19 million NSF grant that was the largest single research grant to a Kansas university at the time. CReSIS designs, builds, and deploys a family of airborne and ground-based radar systems for polar ice sheet and cryosphere remote sensing, including the Multichannel Coherent Radar Depth Sounder (MCoRDS, 150-600 MHz), Ultra-Wideband Snow Radar and UWB-Ice Radar (2-18 GHz and 150-600 MHz), Ku-band Altimeter, HF Radar Sounder (14-35 MHz, ~2.5 kg, designed for UAS), and Accumulation Radar. Instruments are integrated on crewed platforms (NASA P-3, NASA DC-8, Twin Otter, Basler, Cessna 172) and uncrewed platforms (G1X UAS, Vapor 55), and raw data is distributed through the Open Polar Server with processing supported by the open-source CReSIS Toolbox. Since 2005 the center has executed 28 deployments to Arctic and Antarctic locations and accumulated over 1.2 petabytes of hosted raw scientific data.

CReSIS does not sell commercial products or services; its operating model is grant-funded research. Revenue streams include the foundational NSF STC award, recurring NSF Major Research Instrumentation and program awards (including the COLDEX oldest-ice collaboration led by Oregon State University), NASA mission support (notably an 11-year role in Operation IceBridge), NOAA airborne snow-depth work, a 2021 $4 million Department of Defense grant with Kansas State University and the University of Tennessee Space Institute, and foundation support such as the Heising-Simons Foundation's Helheim/Sermilik Fjord collaboration. The center maintains a core technical staff of approximately 17 alongside a rotating body of graduate and undergraduate researchers and supports K-12 STEM outreach through the AATEE summer camp and ARISE program.

In 2022 the organization renamed itself from the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets to the Center for Remote Sensing and Integrated Systems, signaling a strategic broadening of scope into wheat canopy radar, soil moisture sensing on small UAVs, infrastructure monitoring, and other applications beyond polar ice. Key personnel include Director Carl Leuschen (appointed 2020 after the 2017 departure of founding director Siva Prasad Gogineni), Deputy Director John Paden, and Associate Director Richard Hale, supported by senior scientists and engineers in radar systems and signal/data processing.

Name

Center for Remote Sensing and Integrated Systems (CReSIS)

Legal name

Center for Remote Sensing and Integrated Systems (CReSIS)

Website

https://cresis.ku.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CReSIS is a University of Kansas NSF Science and Technology Center that designs airborne and UAS radar systems for polar ice sheet and cryosphere remote sensing, serving NASA, NSF, NOAA, and DoD through grant-funded research.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scientific Research Instruments (Airborne Radar Remote Sensing)

NAICS

Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing (334511)

SIC

Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYIMABAGAA

Radar Systems & Subsystems (Airborne, Ground, Naval)

Industrials, Manufacturing & Construction/Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing/Defense Electronics, Sensors & Radar

SECONDARYBPAMANAM

Satellite Imagery & Remote Sensing Geospatial Platforms

Business & Public Services/Web, Mobile & Digital Platforms/Maps, Location & Navigation Platforms

Keywords

• Radar remote sensing
• Ice sheet monitoring
• Airborne radar systems
• Polar research instruments
• Scientific data processing

Headquarters

HQ city

Lawrence

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. NSF Science and Technology Center Funding: Established as an NSF-STC in 2005 with a $19 million grant (largest single research grant given to a Kansas university at the time). Continues to receive NSF funding for various research projects.
2. Government Research Grants: Funding from NASA (Operation Ice Bridge, various awards), NSF (multiple grants including COLDEX), NOAA, and other federal agencies for specific research projects.
3. Foundation Grants: Funding from organizations such as Heising-Simons Foundation for specific research collaborations.
4. DoD Grants: Collaborative grants with Department of Defense for student research engagement.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CReSIS designs, builds, and deploys specialized airborne radar systems (MCoRDS, Snow Radar, UWB-Ice, Ku-band, HF Radar Sounder, Accumulation Radar, and agricultural radars) on crewed and uncrewed aircraft to measure polar ice sheets, sea ice, snow, and agricultural systems. The center also produces open-source data products and processing tools, hosting 1.2 petabytes of radar data through the Open Polar Server for the global scientific community. Operations are funded through research grants from NSF, NASA, NOAA, the Department of Defense, and partner foundations.

Product overview

CReSIS is a research center that develops and deploys a portfolio of specialized radar systems for remote sensing applications. The core products include multiple radar types (MCoRDS for ice thickness, Snow Radar for snow layering, UWB-Ice, Ku-band, HF Radar, Accumulation Radar, Wheat Radar, and Soil/Snow Mini Radar) that operate across frequency ranges from HF (14-35 MHz) to Ku-band for various measurement applications. These radars are deployed on both crewed aircraft (NASA DC-8, P-3, Twin Otter, Basler, C-172) and uncrewed platforms (G1X, Vapor 55 UAS). Data products and tools include the Open Polar Server for spatial data infrastructure and the CReSIS Toolbox for open-source processing. The center also provides 1.2 petabytes of hosted raw scientific data.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MCoRDS (Multichannel Coherent Radar Depth Sounder) High-power, pulsed radar system operating from 150-600 MHz, optimized for measuring ice thickness and mapping subsurface layers to depths exceeding 4 km. Used by NASA and polar research programs.
• Snow Radar Ultra-wideband frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar operating within the 2-18 GHz range, designed for centimeter-scale sounding of snow layering to depths up to ~100 m in the dry snow zone.
• UWB-Ice Radar 150-600 MHz VHF radar offering the highest power, finest range resolution, and best cross-track resolution of any CReSIS radar system.
• Ku-band Radar Radar system that collects high-precision surface elevation measurements over polar ice sheets.
• HF Radar Sounder Compact ~2.5 kg dual-band radar sounder operating at 14 and 35 MHz, designed for use on mid-size unmanned vehicles (~50 kg) with demonstrated ±10 m horizontal and ±3 m vertical accuracy.
• Accumulation Radar Ultra-wideband radar that maps internal layers in the upper few hundred meters of ice sheets and sounds shallow ice caps and ice shelves; also measures bottom melt rate of ice shelves.
• Wheat Radar 2-18 GHz FMCW radar system for efficiently and non-destructively measuring architecture parameters of wheat canopies for breeding applications.
• Soil/Snow Mini Radar Compact radar system with 2-18 GHz ultra-wideband frequency range and 1 mW power, capable of measuring water content in topsoil and integrated on small UAV helicopters.
• CReSIS Toolbox Open-source processing tools for radar data analysis and manipulation, distributed to the scientific community.
• Open Polar Server Complete spatial data infrastructure for radar data distribution, including geospatial database, web server, map server, and tools to support data users; hosts over 1.2 petabytes of raw scientific data.

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• NASAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCReSIS played a key role in NASA's Operation Ice Bridge Program, providing operational radar support for routine surveys of ice sheets and sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic during an 11-year mission beginning in 2009. CReSIS radars were deployed on NASA P-3 and DC-8 aircraft.
• Penn StatecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner institution in the original NSF Science and Technology Center establishment in 2005, along with Ohio State University, University of Maine, Elizabeth City State University, and Haskell University.
• Ohio State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner institution in the original NSF Science and Technology Center establishment in 2005.
• University of MainecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner institution in the original NSF Science and Technology Center establishment in 2005.
• Elizabeth City State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner institution in the original NSF Science and Technology Center establishment in 2005.
• Haskell UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner institution in the original NSF Science and Technology Center establishment in 2005.
• Oregon State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead institution for COLDEX (Center for OLDest Ice EXplorations), a multi-institution collaboration. CReSIS researchers John Paden, Emily Arnold, Rick Hale, and Fernando Rodriguez-Morales participate as KU investigators.
• British Antarctic SurveycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCReSIS's John Paden published work in Nature in collaboration with British Antarctic Survey and Cornell University as part of the MELT project.
• Cornell UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with CReSIS's John Paden on Nature publication as part of the MELT project with British Antarctic Survey.
• Kansas State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in $4 million Department of Defense grant with University of Tennessee Space Institute to engage students in cutting-edge research.
• University of Tennessee Space InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in $4 million Department of Defense grant with Kansas State University for student research engagement.
• Vanilla UnmannedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCReSIS partnered with Vanilla Unmanned to fly a lightweight ultra-wideband radar over Arctic sea ice. The Vanilla UAS is a long-endurance unmanned aircraft being adapted for polar research.
• Kenn Borek AircoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCReSIS has flown radars on Kenn Borek Twin Otter aircraft for NSF in Greenland and Antarctica deployments. The aircraft is fitted with skis to allow landing on snow and ice.
• Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCReSIS has deployed RDS radar with 24-element array, Snow and Ku-band radars on Basler aircraft for Alfred Wegner Institute.
• NOAAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCReSIS partners with NOAA for field programs and airborne radar snow depth measurements for hydrological modeling projects.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Raytheon (RTX): Large defense prime that manufactures airborne radar systems for military and surveillance applications. Indirectly comparable as a developer of airborne radar subsystems, though focused on defense rather than science.
• Northrop Grumman: Manufactures advanced airborne radar and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems for ISR aircraft. Comparable as an incumbent in airborne radar engineering, though oriented to defense customers.
• NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL): Operates a much broader portfolio of airborne and spaceborne radars (e.g., AIRMOSS, UAVSAR) and is a collaborator/funder of CReSIS. Overlapping in radar remote sensing R&D but at vastly larger scale and scope.

Emerging players

• ICEYE: Commercial operator of a large constellation of SAR satellites providing high-resolution earth observation data. Compares as an emerging alternative data source for cryosphere and surface measurements, though from space rather than airborne platforms.
• Planet Labs: Commercial satellite imagery provider expanding into cryosphere and environmental monitoring applications. Adjacent to CReSIS's mission in earth observation and remote sensing data distribution, though focused on optical imagery from space.

Direct peers

• British Antarctic Survey (BAS): National polar research organization that collaborates with CReSIS on MELT and operates its own airborne radar instrumentation for ice sheet and sea ice surveys. Directly comparable in mission, instrument portfolio, and deployment profile.
• Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (Columbia University): Major earth science research center with active airborne and satellite remote sensing programs for cryosphere and climate research. Comparable in academic research center profile and mission.
• Scripps Institution of Oceanography: Major oceanographic and climate research institution with airborne and in-situ cryosphere observation programs. Comparable as a peer academic research center in polar and climate remote sensing.
• Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI): German polar research institute that has hosted CReSIS RDS, Snow, and Ku-band radars on Basler aircraft for polar surveys. Closely comparable in airborne radar remote sensing of ice sheets and seas.
• DTU Space (Technical University of Denmark): European research center operating airborne radar missions over Greenland and Arctic ice, including Polarimetric Airborne Radar Ice Sounder (POLARIS). Comparable in radar sounder technology for cryosphere science.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cresis
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cresisku
• Instagraminstagram.com/cresisku

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Center for Remote Sensing and Integrated Systems (CReSIS)