the esa earth observation programmes: status overview dr. stephen briggs head of programme planning...
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The ESA Earth Observation Programmes: status overview
Dr. Stephen Briggs
Head of Programme Planning and Coordination Services
Directorate of ESA Earth Observation Programmes
November 2011
In Orbit: ESA Earth Observation satellites
– Five EO missions in operation– 5 more currently operated by
Eumetsat
– Several thousand data user projects worldwide– increasing further
– More than 100 Terabytes/yr of data
– 30 partner missions for which data disseminated to European users
ERS-2 mission complete after 20 years
ERS-2 operations came to an end with satellite passivation on 5 September 2011
De-orbitation consisted of lowering the satellite to a circular orbit @ 570km; from here, it will re-enter the atmosphere in about 15-20 years.
ESA took its responsibility of helping space debris avoidance.
ERS data will be kept and used in the future, as many projects, e.g. the GEO Supersites Initiative, depend on them.
Final ERS-2 image, showing Rome / Italy
accurate determination of the ocean seafloor, digital land elevation models and motion and speed of large ice sheets
first European measurement of global ozone
pioneering use of the interferometric technique
ERS tandem mission allowed generating global DEM up to very high latitude with unmatched accuracy
discovery of Rossby waves -> revision of the classical planetary wave theory
valuable data sets for hazard mitigation and disaster response
ERS paved the way for imaging radar and ‘interferometry’ technologies that are being used in several current satellites and will be carried on future missions
Scientific & technical highlights of ERS-1/2
Overview of actual missions in space
Envisat: 10th year in operation
Envisat orbital change successfully performed (October 2010)
Collision warnings increasing
GOCE has completed its nominal 2-year mission in March 2011
Cryosat first sea ice thickness map presented in June 2011
SMOS RFI situation improving
Next Explorer launch: Swarm in July 2012
Proba-1: 10 year anniversary
GOCE: nominal mission completed
Completion of nominal mission (6 uninterrupted global measurement cycles) in March 2011 Excellent state of S/C after 2.5yrs in orbit Data give new high accuracy insight in the spatial structure of Earth’s gravity field Also for ocean currency GOCE delivers on its promise. The next generation of GOCE based gravity products will be issued in the October / November timeframe
First global map of soil
moisture and
ocean salinity, August
2010
© CESBIO, IFREMER,
CATDS
1. SMOS continues to provide the first global measurements of two key variables in the Earth’s water cycle – soil moisture and ocean salinity
2. Amount of radio-frequency interference that is contaminating SMOS data has reduced significantly over the last year. ESA's Earth Observation Frequency Management and SMOS teams work with international and national committees and organisations to detect and shut down unwanted signals.
SMOS status approaching 2 years in orbit
CryoSat ice thickness map of the Arctic
1st map of sea-ice thickness from ESA’s CryoSat mission was revealed in June.
This new info is set to change our understanding of the complex relationship between ice and climate.
This map was generated based on data from January and February 2011, as the ice approaches its annual maximum.
Data quality exceeds mission requirements
Variations in sea-ice thickness will be seen as of next year
Arctic sea ice decline 2011
Arctic sea ice extent for May 2011 (12.79 million km2) was the third lowest in the satellite data record since 1979(NSIDC)
Sea ice extent in September all time low as measured by satellites
Image: Envisat MERIS, East Greenland coast and Greenland sea, 3 June 2011
BIOMASS: single satellite carrying a P-band SAR to provide
continuous global interferometric and polarimetric radar
observations of forested areas.
CoReH2O / Snow mission: single satellite with dual
frequency (X, Ku), dual-polarisation SAR to observe snow /
ice at high spatial resolution
PREMIER: 3D fields of atmospheric composition in upper
troposphere and lower stratosphere with an infrared limb-
imaging spectrometer and a mm-wave limb-sounder.
Earth Explorer 7 status
Status: Industrial Phase A system studies for the 3 missions are progressing well and have passed the stage of the Prel. Concept Review
FLEX: to provide global maps of vegetation
fluorescence, which can be converted into an
indicator of photosynthetic activity -> to
improve our understanding of how much
carbon is stored in plants and their role in the
carbon and water cycles
Earth Explorer 8 status
CarbonSat: to quantify and monitor the
distribution of carbon dioxide and methane ->
for a better understanding of the sources and
sinks of these two gases and how they are
linked to climate change.
Status: The procurement process for the Phase A/B1 activities for both mission candidates has started.
All CCI teams have now established robust and detailed user requirements
Most teams have also completed the first version of the Product Specifications
Scientific interactions with CMUG and different CCI project teams continue to develop fruitfully
International coordination is progressing constructively, both within Europe, and internationally via the recently established CEOS WG-Climate
Climate Change Initiative status
Image: Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement and Ecole Nationale de la Météorologie, Météo-France
Source: guardian.co.uk
„Europe 2071“
Meteosat Third Generation
MTG is the successor programme to the successful Meteosat Second Generation
The mission development is currently in Phase B2
Recent achievements & status: Consolidation of the system baseline / satellite(s) architecture System Requirements Review passed in spring finalisation of ITTs for the critical Best Practice items the formal inclusion of Astrium into the Leading consortium
GMES: Sentinel & GS status
The Sentinel-Satellites (1A/B, 2A/B, 3A/B, 4 und 5“Precursor“) are under development, Sentinel-5 in definition
Sentinel-1: phase D activities Sentinel-2/3: phase C/D activities Sentinel-4: instrument configuration
swap on MTG-S Satellite launches as of mid 2013 The ground segment (data reception,
processing and distribution) is being implemented
GMES: data policy
Sustainability of operational GMES is the biggest political challenge
ESA Member States have adopted a FREE and OPEN data policy for the Sentinel missions
Upcoming ESA EO launches
The next two launches of Earth Observation satellites will be:
The MetOp-B mission in spring 2012
The Swarm Earth Explorer mission in July 2012
Earth Observation programmes for C-MIN 2012
© National Geographic
EOEP-4 MetOp Second Generation GMES Next Programmatic Period
Jason-CS
Sentinel-5
Studies: next generation security
LoR Elements
Earthnet
Long Term Data Preservation