Jean-Loup Bézy

ESA's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer: mission, system, and applications

MERIS is designed primarily as an ocean color sensor with potential extension to land observations, which will also be utilized for atmospheric investigations. As a moderate spatial resolution, wide swath sensor, this instrument will provide data to be used as inputs to climatological, global and ecosystem models on a long-term basis. An overview is presented of the mission plan, the system design as being studied by industry, and the application objectives as derived from the user requirements.

ESA future earth observation explorer missions

A new call for Core Earth Explorer Ideas was released by the European Space Agency in March 2005. The Call focused on the global carbon and water cycles, atmospheric chemistry and climate, as well as the human element as a cross cutting issue. The proposals were peer reviewed by scientific panels, and also appraised technically and programmatically by ESA. This paper describes the Earth Explorer cycle and gives an overview of the six candidate missions selected for assessment studies.

Medium-resolution imaging spectrometer

The Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) is an optical instrument which is intended to be flown on the first European Polar Platform, scheduled for launch in 1997. The instrument has a spectral range of 400 nm to 1050 nm, a swath width of 1500 km, a spectral resolution of 1.25 nm and spatial resolution of 250 m. The instrument has applications in the fields of oceanographic, land and atmospheric research.

Biomass, CoReH 2 O, PREMIER: ESA's candidate 7 th Earth Explorer Missions

The European Space Agency (ESA) released a Call for Proposals for the next Earth Explorer Core Mission in March 2005, with the aim to select the 7th Earth Explorer (EE-7) mission for launch in the next decade [1]. Twenty-four proposals were received and subject to scientific and technical assessment. Six candidate missions were selected and further investigated in the preliminary feasibility studies (Phase 0). A further down-selection was made after the User Consultation Meeting held in Lisbon, Portugal in January 2009. Three candidate missions were selected for further feasibility investigations (phase A). Each of the candidate missions is now being defined in detail through two parallel and competing industrial studies and many complementary science and technology studies, aiming to the final down-selection in 2011/12, followed by the mission implementation with a planned launch in the 2016/17 timeframe.

ESA future Earth observation Explorer missions

A new call for Core Earth Explorer Ideas was released by the European Space Agency in March 2005. The Call focused on the global carbon and water cycles, atmospheric chemistry and climate, as well as the human element as a cross cutting issue. The proposals were peer reviewed by scientific panels, and also appraised technically and programmatically by ESA. This paper describes the Earth Explorer cycle and gives an overview of the six candidate missions selected for assessment studies.

ESA's premier mission candidate: System and payload overview

The European Space Agency (ESA) is preparing candidates for the 7th Earth Explorer Core mission with the aim to select one of them to be launched towards the end of this decade. Earth Explorers are the backbone of the science and research element of ESAs Living Planet Programme, providing an important contribution to the global endeavour of understanding the Earth system, particularly in view of global climate change. Six candidate missions were selected and further investigated in the preliminary assessment studies (Phase 0). A further down-selection was made after the User Consultation Meeting held in Lisbon, Portugal in January 2009. Three candidate missions (Biomass, CoReH2O and PREMIER) were selected for further feasibility investigations (Phase A). Each of the candidate missions has been defined in detail through two parallel and competing industrial studies and many complementary science and technology studies, aiming to the final down-selection in 2013, followed by the mission implementation with a planned launch in 2019. This paper will give an overview of the observation requirements, satellite, payload and general status of the PREMIER mission.

Medium-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) calibration sequence

MERIS is a passive optical instrument, that will fly on the first polar orbiting earth observation mission ENVISAT. The development of this instrument is currently carried by an international team led by AEROSPATIALE. The instrument primary mission goal is to monitor bio-optical ocean parameters on a large scale. Secondary goals of MERIS include atmospheric investigation on cloud and aerosols parameters and on land surface processes. The instrument will acquire 15 spectral images, programmable in width and position with a spectral sampling interval of 1.25 nm within the spectral range of 390nm to 1040nm. MERIS images will have a swath width of 1100km and spatial resolution of 300m.

A Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer For The European Polar Orbiting Platform

This paper describes a design for the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS), which has been proposed as a candidate core instrument for the European Polar Platform scheduled for launch in 1997. The instrument has a spectral range of 400 to 1050nm, a swath width of 1500km, spectral resolution of 1.25nm and spatial resolution of 260m. The instrument has applications in the fields of marine, land and atmospheric research.

Sentinel-3A: First Flight Results of Its Optical Payload

Sentinel-3 is a Global Land and Ocean monitoring mission developed in the frame of the joint EC/ESA Copernicus initiative. Carrying a suite of cutting-edge instruments, Sentinel-3 will measure systematically 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. Four identical Sentinel-3 satellites are planned that will collectively provide a 20-year period of continuous observations. The Sentinel-3A (S3A) satellite was launched on the 16th of February 2016. Sentinel-3B satellite is under development and will be launched in 2017. Sentinel-3C and D satellites are in preparation as replacement for the A and B units. In this paper we will describe the S3A optical payload and summarize the first commissioning phase results.

Meteosat third generation: preliminary imagery and sounding mission concepts and performances

The operational deployment of MSG-1 at the beginning of 2004, the first of a series of four Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellites, marks the start of a new era in Europe for the meteorological observations from the geostationary orbit. This new system shall be the backbone of the European operational meteorological services up to at least 2015. The time required for the definition and the development of new space systems as well as the approval process of such complex programs implies to plan well ahead for the future missions. EUMETSAT have initiated in 2001, with ESA support, a User Consultation Process aiming at preparing for a future operational geostationary meteorological satellite system in the post-MSG era, named Meteosat Third Generation (MTG). The first phase of the User Consultation Process was devoted to the definition and consolidation of end user requirements and priorities in the field of Nowcasting and Very Short Term Weather Forecasting (NWC), Medium/Short Range global and regional Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP), Climate and Air Composition Monitoring and to the definition of the relevant observation techniques. After an initial post-MSG mission study (2003-2004) where preliminary instrument concepts were investigated allowing in the same time to consolidate the technical requirements for the overall system study, a MTG pre-phase A study has been performed for the overall system concept, architecture and programmatic aspects during 2004-2005 time frame. This paper provides an overview of the outcome of the MTG sensor concept studies conducted in the frame of the pre-phase A. It namely focuses onto the Imaging and Sounding Missions, highlights the resulting instrument concepts, establishes the critical technologies and introduces the study steps towards the implementation of the MTG development programme.