The Contribution of Space Technologies to Arctic Policy Priorities

C.4.2 Planned Earth Observation Satellite Systems Sentinel 1 Facts in Brief

Country: 26 European member states Operations: European Space Agency Status: Mission development began in 2005, with a two satellite configuration; 1A launch planned for 2013 and 1B for 2015

Mission Duration: Design life of 7 years (each satellite) Coverage: Global coverage, with a revisit time of 12 days Orbit: Sun synchronous polar orbit at 693 km altitude

Key Service Areas: Monitoring Arctic sea-ice extent; routine sea-ice mapping; surveillance of the marine environment, including oil-spill monitoring and ship detection for maritime security; monitoring land-surface for motion risks; mapping for forest, water and soil management; and mapping to support humanitarian aid and crisis situations. Web link: http://www.esa.int/esaLP/SEMBRS4KXMF_LPgmes_0.html Sentinel 1 will provide continuity of data from ERS and Envisat missions, with further enhancements in terms of revisit, coverage, timeliness and reliability of service. The Sentinel 1 Synthetic Aperture Radar sensor will have four nominal operational modes designed for inter- operability with other systems: Interferometric Wide-Swath Mode with 250 km swath, 5x20 m (range x azimuth) spatial resolution and burst synchronisation for interferometry; Wave Mode with 5x5 m (range x azimuth) spatial resolution leap-frog sampled images of 20x20 km at 100 km along the orbit, with alternating 23 deg and 36.5 deg incidence angles; Extra-Wide-Swath Mode with 400 km swath and 20x40 m (range x azimuth) spatial resolution; and Strip Map Mode with 80 km swath and 5x5 m (range x azimuth) spatial resolution. The first two modes will satisfy most of the envisaged service requirements. The two other modes are provided for continuity with other SAR missions and to accommodate emerging user requirements. The Sentinel-1 pair is expected to provide coverage over Europe, Canada and main shipping routes in 1–3 days, regardless of weather conditions, with data being delivered within an hour of acquisition.

Mission Objectives

System Capabilities

C-band radar images

Measured Parameters

The Sentinel 1 will contribute to environmental, economic development, and sovereignty and security policy priorities in the Arctic, providing beneficial data for environmental monitoring, disaster response, resource development and northern shipping in the region.

Relevance to Arctic Interests

Sentinel 2 Facts in Brief

Country: 26 European member states Operations: European Space Agency Status: Mission development began in 2005, with a two satellite configuration; launch planned for 2013 Mission Duration: Design life of 7 years Coverage: Global coverage, with a revisit time of 5 days with 2 satellites flying concurrently (2 to 3 days in extended mode) Orbit: Sun synchronous polar orbit at 800 km altitude; twin satellites on the same orbit, 180° apart from each other Key Service Areas: Land cover, usage and change-detection mapping; geophysical variable mapping (leaf chlorophyll content, leaf water content, leaf area index, etc.); risk mapping; and fast imaging for disaster relief. Web link: http://www.esa.int/esaLP/SEMBRS4KXMF_LPgmes_0.html The Sentinel 2 wide-swath high-resolution twin satellites, super-spectral imaging mission is designed for data continuity and enhancement of Landsat and SPOT-type missions, and for GMES operational land and security services. Sentinel 2 will carry an optical payload with visible, near infrared and shortwave infrared sensors comprising 13 spectral bands: 4 bands at 10 m, 6 bands at 20 m and 3 bands at 60 m spatial resolution (the latter is dedicated to atmospheric corrections and cloud screening), with a swath width of 290 km. The 13 spectral bands guarantee consistent time series, showing variability in land surface conditions and minimising any artefacts introduced by atmospheric variability. The increased swath width along with the short revisit time allows rapid changes to be monitored, such as vegetation during the growing season.

Mission Objectives

System Capabilities

Multispectral images

Measured Parameters

The Sentinel 2 will contribute to economic development, and sovereignty and security policy priorities in the Arctic, providing beneficial data for monitoring of changes in land cover, and disaster response.

Relevance to Arctic Interests

CONTRIBUTION OF SPACE TECHNOLOGIES TO ARCTIC POLICY PRIORITIES 94