SAR missions for oceanography at the European Space Agency

Transcription

1 SAR missions for oceanography at the European Space Agency ERS-1, ERS-2, Envisat, Sentinel-1A, Sentinel-1B, ESA 3 rd Party Missions (ALOS) Prepared by ESA teams and ESA supporting companies

2 ESA and SAR oceanography For the last 20 years, ESA has been constantly supporting the SAR oceanography communities with: the provision of relevant SAR data, through: the development and operations of SAR satellites (ERS-1, ERS-2, Envisat) the adaptation of those missions in order to fulfil the (ever) increasing needs of the oceanography communities a constant effort in facilitating access to SAR data the development of SAR science and SAR maritime applications, bringing together the SAR oceanography communities through the SEASAR workshop.

3 ERS-1 and ERS-2 missions 19 years of ERS-1/2 SAR data in the archive The most complete and consistent SAR archive

4 ERS-2 mission ERS-2 will reach 15 years of operations in April 2010 ERS-2 was designed for 3 years nominal lifetime! Platform no gyroscopes since 2001 Gyro-less operations no on-board recorders Network of SAR data acquisition stations provides a good coverage Instruments all instruments (but ATSR) work satisfactorily and provides useful data, in particular the SAR instrument which can provide a rapid access to SAR acquisitions over Europe Fast Fast ERS-2 ERS-2 SAR SAR instrument instrument tasking tasking hours hours

5 Envisat mission Envisat has reached 8 years of operations: Envisat was designed for 5 years nominal lifetime Satellite: good overall status will platform and payload ASAR instrument works satisfactorily see following presentation (N. Miranda) Ground segment: about 270 min. of ASAR (high rate) data acquired every day, equivalent to 270 ScanSAR products or 1080 stripmap products per day

6 Envisat mission A large archive of ScanSAR data for maritime applications ASAR archive: Wide Swath Mode, VV

7 Mean wind speed Mean 10 meter height wind speed derived from about 7500 Envisat ASAR WSM images acquired from 2005 to 2009

8 European shipping routes Ship detection with Envisat ASAR ( ) NO2 with OMI (2008)

9 Oil spill detection and surveillance Strong partnership between ESA and EMSA for an efficient CleanSeaNet service

10 Envisat mission A large archive of ScanSAR data for maritime applications ASAR archive: Wide Swath Mode, HH

11 Legacy SAR data acquisition for International Polar Year : lowest minimum 2008: second lowest minimum Canada Arctic sea ice extent 2008 Both passages open Russia Envisat ASAR mosaic Greenland Early September 2008

12 Operational use of Envisat ASAR WS for ice chart Winter Winter Radarsat-1 Envisat 2008: Lowest sea ice extent in Baltic Sea, since record began in 1720! Envisat 22 Jan Credit: Finnish Institute of Marine Research

13 Envisat mission A large archive dedicated to InSAR ASAR archive: Image Mode, Swath 2, VV (i.e. ERS-like)

14 Envisat mission extension ERS ERS Envisat operations should end in 2010, but Member States have agreed to fund a 3-year extension 2002 Envisat New orbital parameters Envisat satellite is in good health and with an expected reasonable evolution. Efficient consumption of on-board hydrazine allows operating nominally Envisat until But most of hydrazine will be consumed by The Envisat 3-years extension requests a modification of the orbital parameters in 2010 to be able to operate the satellite with minimum hydrazine.

15 Envisat mission extension ERS Envisat operations should end in 2010, but Member States have agreed to fund a 3-year extension ERS Envisat Altitude change: km Repeat cycle: 30 days / 431 orbits Orbit control: only altitude, inclination drift Mean Local Solar Time variation: +/- 10 min. The new orbital parameters allow: 1. to keep current nominal mission until 2010, 2. to extend the mission beyond 2010, 3. to allow operations of all instruments with small or no degradation of their measurements, and minor impact on data quality, excepted for InSAR 4. to commit with the satellite disposal rules.

16 ESA 3 rd party mission: ALOS ERS ERS SAR Tandem ERS-2 Envisat 1 st Tandem 2 nd Tandem 3 rd Tandem ALOS (ESA 3 rd party mission) extension (TBC) ESA operates the ALOS Data European Node (ADEN) and provides data to European/African/ Middle-East users. ALOS satellite is currently in post-routine operations after its 3 years nominal lifetime. JAXA estimates to be able operating ALOS until 2013/14 (propellant for 5 years from now).

17 GMES and Sentinel-1 missions ERS ERS SAR Tandem ERS-2 Envisat 1 st Tandem 2 nd Tandem 3 rd Tandem ALOS (ESA 3 rd party mission) extension (TBC) GMES GMES Space Space Component Component led led by by ESA ESA :: Sentinel Sentinel missions: missions: developed developed specifically specifically for for GMES GMES Contributing Contributing missions: missions: EO EO missions missions built built for for purposes purposes other other than than GMES GMES but but offering offering part part of of their their capacity capacity to to GMES GMES (EU/ESA (EU/ESA Member Member States, States, EUMETSAT, EUMETSAT, commercial, commercial, international) international) Sentinel-1A + national SAR missions (Radarsat, TerraSAR-X, COSMO, ) Sentinel-1B

18 GMES and Sentinel-1 missions Sentinel-1 main characteristics: Sun synchronous orbit, MLST: 18:00 h at ascending node 12 days repeat cycle, 175 orbits/cycle C-band SAR Duty cycle: up to 25 min/orbit in high rate acquisition modes Communication link rate: ~600 Mbps

19 Sentinel-1 operational concept Key operational concept: Pre-defined stable observation plan, to support operational activities (e.g. sea ice monitoring, maritime surveillance, land surface motion monitoring) On-request satellite tasking, processing and dissemination capability to support Emergency & Security GMES Services Systematic processing and dissemination of all acquired data within 24 h Systematic NRT data access capability (less than 3 h after data sensing) Downlink (direct and on-board recorder) to Core ground stations, and direct downlink to Collaborative local ground stations (e.g. for support to specific QRT operations) On line data access to fresh and past data (no media usage foreseen) Stable and traceable product quality meeting the quality requirements and accurate product calibration see presentation (E. Attema) on Sentinel-1 this morning after coffee break

20 Sentinel data policy The principles of the Sentinel data policy are jointly established by EC and ESA. The principles of the Sentinel Data Policy are based on a full and open access to the data: anybody can access acquired Sentinel data; in particular, no difference is made between public, commercial and scientific use and in between European or non-european users (on a best effort basis, taking into consideration technical and financial constraints); the licenses for the Sentinel data itself are free of charge; the Sentinel data will be made available to the users via a "generic" online access mode, free of charge. "Generic" online access is subject to a user registration process and to the acceptation of generic terms and conditions; additional access modes and the delivery of additional products will be tailored to specific user needs, and therefore subject to tailored conditions; in the event security restrictions apply to specific Sentinel data affecting data availability or timeliness, specific operational procedures will be activated. ESA Member States approved those principles in September 2009.

21 Facilitating access to Earth Observation data A constant objective: ease access to Earth Observation data Common objective for all missions data handled by ESA: Envisat, ERS, Earth Explorers, and Third Party Missions Revised ESA EO data policy in preparation: open and free of charge for most data (user registration) some restrictions for SAR data and some 3rd Party Missions Development of alternative ways to provide data (e.g. processing on demand, toolboxes) Maintain effort in improving quality of products (algorithms, validation) Maintain effort in exploiting data (e.g. ESA Climate Change Programme)

22 Wind and currents - Hurricane Bill (23rd Aug. 2009) US east coast Wind Currents

23 Swell propagation using SAR Wave mode ASAR Wave Mode tracks long swell propagating across the Pacific during 6 days

24 Legacy SAR data acquisition for IPY (Antarctica) Wilkins Ice Shelf

25 Wilkins Ice Shelf (Antarctica) Charcot Island Wilkins Ice Shelf ERS-1, January km July 2007

26 ENVISAT ASAR 03 July February ESA, Proposed best case scenario (May 2008) Charcot Island Wilkins Ice Shelf Proposed worst case scenario (May 2008) Strong Stronggeneral generalpublic public and andmedia mediainterest: interest: Webcam Webcamfrom fromspace Space on onesa ESAweb webportal portal Courtesy M. Braun (Univ. Bonn), A. Humbert (Univ. Munster)

27 Southern Hemisphere Icebergs Southern Hemisphere Iceberg database at US National Ice Center Wilkins Ice Shelf

28 Conclusions As for the last 20 years, ESA is committed to continue its support to the SAR maritime user communities: maintaining the effort in facilitating access to SAR data, fostering the exploitation of SAR data for maritime applications with European partners (e.g. European Commission, EMSA) developing and operating the Sentinel-1 missions (2 satellites), seeking reinforced partnerships with other SAR operators (e.g. Canadian Space Agency, Japanese Space Agency).

29 esa.int