“Delivering Incredible Data” – First Results From Copernicus Sentinel-6 Satellite Surpass Expectations

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First Results From Copernicus Sentinel-6

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First arises from Copernicus Sentinel-6. Credit: Contains customized Copernicus Sentinel information (2020), processed by Eumetsat

Launched less than 3 weeks earlier, the Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite has not just returned its very first information, however outcomes likewise reveal that it is working far much better than anticipated. Thanks to its brand-new, advanced, altimetry innovation, Sentinel-6 is poised to provide extremely exact information on sea-level height to keep an eye on the distressing pattern of sea-level increase.

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich was lofted into orbit on November 21, from California. After it had actually returned its very first signal revealing that it lived and well in area, ESA’s Operations Centre in Germany looked after the satellite’s very first couple of days in orbit prior to handing it over to Eumetsat for commissioning, and ultimate regular operations and circulation of information.

The satellite brings Europe’s newest radar altimetry innovation to extend the long-lasting record of sea-surface height measurements that started in the early 1990s.

On November 30, flight operators turned on Sentinel-6’s Poseidon-4 altimeter instrument, which was established by ESA. Analyzing its preliminary information, experts were amazed by the quality. These very first information existed today, by method of 3 primary images, at the European Space Week.

First Sea-Level Height Results From Copernicus Sentinel-6

Copernicus Sentinel-6 sea-level abnormality information, overlaid on a map revealing comparable items from all of the Copernicus altimetry objectives: Jason-3, Sentinel-3A and Sentinel-3B. The background image is a map of sea-level abnormalities from satellite altimeter information offered by the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service for December 4, 2020. The information for this image were drawn from the Sentinel-6 ‘Short Time Critical Level 2 Low Resolution’ items produced on December 5. Credit: Contains customized Copernicus Sentinel information (2020), processed by Eumetsat

The very first image (on top and duplicated to the left) reveals some initial outcomes of sea-surface height. The information are overlaid on a map revealing comparable items from all of the Copernicus altimetry objectives: Jason-3, Sentinel-3A and Sentinel-3B. The background image is a map of sea-level abnormalities from satellite altimeter information offered by the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service for December 4, 2020. The Sentinel-6 information items were produced on December 5.

The image listed below programs a contrast in between information processed on board the satellite and downlinked (blue line), compared to complete raw information processed on the ground (red line). By getting rid of the routing edge of the information prior to being transferred to Earth, the information rate is minimized by 50%. High fidelity low-noise information are thanks to Sentinel-6’s Poseidon-4 digital instrument architecture, which is an initially.

Copernicus Sentinel-6 First Waveform Results

Copernicus Sentinel-6 very first waveform outcomes. Credit: Contains customized Copernicus Sentinel information (2020), processed by ESA/isardSAT, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

ESA’s objective researcher for Copernicus Sentinel-6, Craig Donlon, discussed, “We can already see that the satellite is delivering incredible data, thanks to the digital architecture of Poseidon-4 and the inclusion of simultaneous high-resolution synthetic aperture radar processing and conventional low-resolution mode into altimetry for the first time. This gives us the opportunity to make measurements with much finer synthetic aperture radar techniques that can be compared to Jason-3 to understand the improvement of the climate record.”

“Importantly, we can also see that there is very little noise in the data, so we have extremely clean data to work with.”

The set of images listed below of Russia’s Ozero Nayval Lagoon and surrounding rivers reveal several views from Copernicus satellites. The very first is a ‘camera-like’ image from Sentinel-2; the 2nd is a radar image from Sentinel-1; and next is from Sentinel-6 in its traditional ‘low-resolution’ mode, which does not expose a great deal of details. However, by processing the altimetry information utilizing fully-focussed artificial aperture methods normally utilized for imaging radar information, the resulting image exposes extraordinary information, highlighting the power of the instrument.

Beauty of Copernicus

The pictures of Russia’s Ozero Nayval Lagoon and surrounding rivers reveal several views from Copernicus satellites. Credit: Contains customized Copernicus Sentinel information (2020), processed by ESA/Aresys, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

Director of ESA’s Earth Observation Programmes, Josef Aschbacher, stated, “We are pleased with these very first outcomes and happy to see our ESA-developed radar altimeter is working so well. Nevertheless, Copernicus Sentinel-6 is an objective that has actually been integrated in cooperation with the European Commission, Eumetsat, NASA, NOAA and CNES – with all celebrations playing vital functions that make this objective the success we are seeing today.”

Another unexpected outcome recommends that the satellite’s position in area can be much better comprehended than formerly believed. A radar altimeter obtains the height of the satellite above Earth by determining for how long a transmitted radar pulse requires to show from Earth’s surface area. Sentinel-6 for that reason brings a bundle of placing instruments, consisting of a system that can utilize both GPS and Galileo signals. Remarkably, the addition of Galileo measurements brings an enhancement in orbit decision quality – which contributes to the general efficiency of the objective.

Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Satellite Lifts Off

The Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite was released on November 21, 2020, from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, United States. Credit: ESA – S. Corvaja

More about Copernicus Sentinel-6

Rising seas are at the top of the list of significant issues connected to environment modification. Monitoring sea-surface height is crucial to comprehending the modifications occurring so that decision-makers have the proof to execute suitable policies to assist suppress environment modification therefore that authorities can do something about it to safeguard susceptible neighborhoods.

The very first sea-surface height ‘reference’ measurements were provided by the French–United States Topex-Poseidon satellite, which was followed by 3 succeeding Jason objectives. They reveal that considering that 1993 the worldwide water level has actually increased, usually, by simply over 3 mm every year. Even more worryingly, over the last couple of years the worldwide ocean has actually increased, usually, by 4.8 mm a year.

While the Copernicus Sentinel-6’s function is to continue this tradition of crucial measurements, the satellite brings brand-new digital altimeter innovation with devoted onboard processing that will return much more exact measurements of the height of the sea surface area.

Sentinel-6 brings, for the very first time, artificial aperture radar into the altimetry referral objective time series. To guarantee that the multi-satellite information time series stays steady, Sentinel-6 provides synchronised traditional low-resolution mode measurements, that resemble measurements from Jason-3, along with the enhanced efficiency of the artificial aperture radar processing that yields high-resolution along-track measurements. A 12-month tandem flight, where Sentinel-6 flies simply 30 seconds behind Jason-3, will be utilized to compare measurements from the 2 independent satellites in order to extend the sea-level environment record with self-confidence.