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 570km; from here, it will re-enter the atmosphere in about 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: 10 th 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