Main Satellites for Environmental Remote Sensing

• ENVISAT (Environmental Satellite)

  A united Europe from space: Envisat mosaic, produced using images acquired during July 2007 by MERIS instrument............Credits: ESA

  • Earth observation satellite.

  • orbit: sun-synchronous polar orbit

  • Height from the Earth: about 800Km

  • 10 instruments on board, able to observe continuously and monitor the surface (landscape topography, vegetation characteristics, crop yields), atmosphere (clouds and precipitations, atmospheric temperature, ozone content), oceans (ocean currents, ocean colour) and ice polar caps.

  • Launched in 2002 with Ariane 5 launcher from the European launch base in Kourou (French Guyana).

  • Unfortunately, communication with Envisat satellite was suddenly lost on 8 April 2012, few weeks after celebrating its tenth year in orbit. Despite rigorous attempts to re-establish contact, the end of the mission was declared on 9 May 2012. However, ten years of archived data from Envisat continue to be exploited for many studies.

  • ESA project.

  • Links for detailed information on Envisat :

    http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Envisat

    http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Eduspace_Envisat_IT/index.html

• SOHO (Solar Heliospheric Observatory)

  Diagram showing orbital positions of the planets and SOHO........Credits: ESA

  Credit --- The SOHO-EIT Consortium: SOHO is an ESA/NASA project of international cooperation.

  In this SOHO/EIT image, the material in the eruptive prominence is at temperatures of 60,000 - 80,000 K, much cooler than surrounding corona, which is typically at temperatures above 1 million K. The hottest areas appear almost white while the darker red areas indicate cooler temperatures.

  • SOHO studies the Sun in depth, in order to monitor the effects of the Sun on the environment, predict solar flares, protect satellites around the Earth and the electrical networks from intense solar wind effects.

  • Launched on 2 December 1995.

  • Joint project between NASA and ESA.

  • The most spectacular instrument is EIT (Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope): it can take detailed pictures of the entire solar surface in ultraviolet light.

  • To find out more about SOHO, flares and how the Sun affects us on Earth, go to ESA portal and start your web navigation from:

    http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/SOHO_overview2

• EARTH EXPLORERS

  ESA's Missions which involve satellites dedicated to the observation of the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere and Earth's core with the aim to obtain more information on the interaction among these components and the impact that human activity has on the Earth's natural processes.

• GOCE (Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Explorer)

  GOCE data products.........Credits: ESA – AOES Medialab

  • Launched on 17 March 2009.

  • It makes measurements of the Earth's gravity field: all the tiny variations in the Earth's gravitational pull are measured by the instruments of GOCE. For this reason it follows a low orbit at 225Km above Earth. Data from GOCE allow us to study, e.g., the ocean currents and the changing sea level.

  • Find out more: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/The_Living_Planet_Programme/Earth_Explorers/GOCE

• SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity)

  Terrestrial and atmospheric components of the water cycle.....Credits: ESA/AOES Medialab

  • Launched on 2 November 2009.

  • It makes observations of soil moisture and ocean salinity, necessary for hydrological studies.

  • Find out more: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/The_Living_Planet_Programme/Earth_Explorers/SMOS

• CryoSat-2

  CryoSat and global warming......Credits: ESA

  • Launched on 8 April 2010.

  • It measures the ice thickness, in particular marine ice and land ice sheets over Greenland and Antarctica, in order to detect seasonal changes and determine how and how much the melting of ices can cause a global rise of sea level. It is placed into a polar orbit at 700km above Earth.

  • Find out more: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/The_Living_Planet_Programme/Earth_Explorers/CryoSat-2

• Swarm

  Swarm: magnetic field satellites get their bearings…..........Credits: ESA – P. Carril

  • The launch is expected in 2013.

  • It is a constellation of three satellites.

  • Swarm will identify and make high resolution measurements of the magnetic signals stemming from Earth’s core, mantle, crust, oceans, ionosphere and magnetosphere. All the information will provide a better understanding of the near-Earth electromagnetic environment and the impact that solar wind has on Earth.

  • Find out more: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/The_Living_Planet_Programme/Earth_Explorers/Swarm

• ADM – AEOLUS (Atmospheric Dynamics Mission)

  Earth's wind patterns......Credits: ESA/AOES Medialab

  • The launch is expected in 2015.

  • It will provide global observations of three-dimensional wind fields. These observations will enable a more detailed study of the balance and circulation of wind energy on Earth. The mission should help to understanding phenomena such as El Niño, improve the accuracy of weather forecasting and enhance understanding of climate change.

  • Find out more: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/The_Living_Planet_Programme/Earth_Explorers/ADM-Aeolus

• EarthCARE (Earth Clouds, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer)

  EarthCARE...........Credits: ESA – AOES Medialab

  • The launch is expected in 2015.

  • It is implemented in collaboration with JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency).

  • It is designed to study global warming.

  • Find out more: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/The_Living_Planet_Programme/Earth_Explorers/EarthCARE

:

To find out more about ESA EARTH OBSERVING MISSIONS please visit ESA portal and start from the web page: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Earth_Explorers_overview

On the ESA portal (link: http://www.esa.int/ESA) you can also discover ALL ESA MISSIONS and plenty of other information offered by ESA.