Arctic ice taken by Hara Talasila

Center for Remote Sensing and Integrated Systems

The Center for Remote Sensing and Integrated Systems (CReSIS) captures and manages large quantities of data collected through airborne radars, antennas, and sounders.

About CReSIS

Apply to our FREE camp!

AATEE, our engineering and computer science camp, is happening May 31 - June 12. Rising high school senior in Kansas are invited to apply today!
A bunch of kids with model cars

Congratulations Jennifer!

Longtime CReSIS administrative manager Jennifer Laverentz was recently named as KU's Employee of the Month for January 2026! Read more about the well-deserved honor here. 

Rocks on Mars NASA ID: PIA05108

CReSIS director co-authors paper about ice on Mars

A new paper co-authored by CReSIS director Carl Leuschen revealed evidence of ice-rich deposits in the mysterious Medusae Fossae Formation on the surface of Mars.

Read more!
View of Crew Commander Henry Hartsfield Jr. loading film into the IMAX camera during the 41-D mission. The camera is floating in front of the middeck lockers. Above it is a sticker of the University of Kansas mascott, the Jayhawk. Credit: NASA

Research at CReSIS

CReSIS researchers engage in sustained, intense, collaborative work to achieve progress in problems of global significance. Our research groups bring undergraduate and graduate students into exciting work across a variety of disciplines with scientists from across the globe.

Our research

Data

89
successfully funded grants
28
deployments to arctic locations since 2005
1.2 petabytes
of raw scientific data hosted (that's over a million gigabytes)

New to CReSIS?

Check out our wiki for helpful tips and links
If you've got questions about CReSIS development, processes, forms, whatever - the answer may be here!
CReSIS Wiki

New Name, Same CReSIS

Read a letter from CReSIS director Carl Leuschen about our new name and what it means for our future as a research center.
The engine of an airplane below a sign reading Thule Air Base: The Top of the World
Aqsa Patel in a plane cockpit

Scientific Experience in Extreme Situations

Aqsa Patel, senior scientist at Philips Healthcare, started her career as a graduate student and postdoc at CReSIS. "Concepts [from] my radar days [that were] challenging at that time became easy to me, and I can apply it in my current practice."
Aqsa Patel works with another researcher on a radar on a plane

Mentorship at the Ends of the Earth

"It was an excellent mentorship situation [working for] NASA and NSF programs. Deploying these radars every six months to a to a remote place where there's not spare parts, [you] learn early on that you need to build and design durable [things that] don't break down in harsh environments."
-Aqsa Patel

Learn more about studying or working at CReSIS

Looking for education resources?

Check out our archive of past lesson plans and games.
CReSIS education
A student is instructed in using the MCCORDS radar
CReSIS scientists heading into a NASA facility

People

CReSIS has a robust team of students, researchers, engineers, and other staff members working to better understand the changing dynamics of glacial regions, and transfer that knowledge to the larger scientific community.
Two researchers in Greenland operating heavy machinery with a Jayhawk decal
Icy landscape

Get in Touch with CReSIS

Reach out to CReSIS for information about admission, collaboration, and anything else!

Contact Us

Check out the Latest Data!

See CReSIS data products reaching back over a decade - updated regularly!
Echogram from MCORDS radar from Antarctica.