Sentinel-3A, the newest and most comprehensive of all European Sentinel Missions, is set to launch from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia on Tuesday next week aboard a Rockot rocket.
Photo:ESA
The Sentinels are a fleet of satellites designed to deliver the wealth of data and imagery that are central to the European Commission’s Copernicus programme, the most ambitious Earth observation programme to date.
Carrying a suite of cutting-edge instruments, Sentinel-3A will provide critical information for ocean and weather forecasting by systematically measuring Earth’s oceans, land, ice and atmosphere to monitor and understand large-scale global dynamics. It will provide essential information in near-real time for ocean and weather forecasting.
The mission is based on two identical satellites orbiting in constellation for optimum global coverage and data delivery. For example, with a swath width of 1270 km, the ocean and land colour instrument will provide global coverage every two days.
With a focus on the oceans, Sentinel-3 measures the temperature, colour and height of the sea surface as well as the thickness of sea ice. The measurements will be used to monitor changes in sea level, marine pollution and biological productivity.
Photo:ESA
Over land, this innovative mission will provide a bigger picture by monitoring wildfires and mapping the way land is used, provide indices of vegetation state and measure the height of rivers and lakes – complementing the high-resolution measurements of its sister mission Sentinel-2.
While Sentinel-3 will provide enhanced continuity of satellites such as Envisat and Spot, the sheer breadth of data from this new mission means that it is set to be the workhorse for Copernicus.
The mission is the result of close collaboration between the European Space Agency, the European Commission, Eumetsat, France’s CNES space agency, industry, service providers and data users.
The two Sentinel-3 satellites have been designed and built by a consortium of around 100 companies under the leadership of Thales Alenia Space, France.
Once commissioned in orbit, ESA and Eumetsat will manage the mission jointly. ESA will process land products and Eumetsat the marine products for application through the Copernicus services. Data will be available free of charge and open to users worldwide.
After the launch of Sentinel-3A, Sentinel-3B will follow in 2017.
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