Third EU-funded Earth observation satellite lifts off
Nik MartinFebruary 16, 2016
The satellite has been launched into space on a mission to measure the oceans, rivers, lakes and sea ice. The Sentinel-3A is part of the most sophisticated Earth observation system ever.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/European Space Agency
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The 1,200 kilogram (2,645 lb) satellite blasted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on Tuesday evening, as part of the European Commission's 9-billion-euro ($10-billion) Copernicus program.
The Sentinel-3A was attached to a Russian-made launcher known as "Rockot" (Rumble), a decommissioned ballistic missile which transported its payload towards its final destination in orbit, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) above Earth.
Its mission is to deliver ice, land ocean and coastal monitoring, sea-level change as well as environment monitoring.
The project team said the new satellite would be fully activated within three days and should be operational by mid-July after extensive testing.
Data has multiple uses
Sentinel-3A, which has a 7-year life span, will also be able to spot upcoming droughts and identify spots where large numbers of refugees may be gathering to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.
Scientists said the communications device can deliver data to the Copernicus team within three hours of sensing, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Sentinel 1A and 2A, which were launched in 2014 and 2015 respectively, were designed to provide land surveys to allow better disaster responses. They are equipped with radar and high-resolution cameras, to which Sentinel-3A will add more sophisticated instruments.
A 20-year program
The EU-funded Copernicus program eventually plans more than a dozen satellites in what scientists have described as the most ambitious Earth Observation system to date.
Sentinel-3B is due to be launched next year, which ESA officials say - with Sentinel-3A - will be able to map the world every two days.
Last week, the ESA signed a 450-million-euro contract with Thales Alenia Space of France to manufacture two further satellites, which officials said secure the project's future until 2030.
Natural disasters as seen from outer space
How do satellites see the Earth? And what do they find out about what's happening down here? Check out these impressive photos of natural disasters to discover for yourself.
Image: NASA
Only tears of sand remain
Earth observation satellites such as the European Space Agency's Proba-V collect daily images that allow for the tracking of environmental changes over time. The images above - taken in April 2014, July 2015 and January 2016 (left to right) - offer crystal-clear insight into the gradual evaporation of Lake Poopo, once Bolivia's second largest lake - due at least in part to climate change.
Image: ESA/Belspo
The beast has awoken
No matter how long volcanoes sleep, they're always in a bad mood when they wake up. The International Space Station was passing overhead when the Sarychev volcano, located in the Kuril Islands of Russia, erupted in 2009. Astronauts were able to snap a picture through a hole in the clouds. From dense ash to clouds of condensed water, virtually all natural phenomena can be examined from outer space.
Image: NASA
Don't play with fire
Every year, wildfires devastate the landscape - and ecology - in numerous countries around the world. Too often, these are caused by humans. This was also the case in Indonesia, where farmers burned peat rainforest areas for agriculture. On the island of Borneo and Sumatra, satellites detected fire hot spots in September 2015, and the plume of grey smoke that triggered air quality alerts.
Image: NASA/J. Schmaltz
German kids misbehaved
In Germany, parents warn their children that if they don't finish their meals, it's going to rain. And indeed, in 2013 it rained, so much that some of central Europe's major rivers overflowed their banks. As shown in this image from 2013, the Elbe burst its banks following unprecedented rainfall. In the photo, muddy water covers the area around Wittenberg, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Image: NASA/J. Allen
At the eye of the hurricane
A strong storm can cause irreparable damage through intense winds and storm surges from the sea. Space-based information is crucial in following development of such storms: intensity, the direction it's moving, wind speed … in the eastern Pacific Ocean near Mexico, this satellite image helped determine how tropical storm Sandra reached winds of 160 kilometers per hour by November 25, 2015.
Image: NASA/J. Schmaltz
Melting away from under us
Satellites also play a key role in monitoring climate change and, inevitably, the process of melting ice. From space, scientists were able to document how several glaciers around the globe have receded - as well as the subsequent rise in sea level. This photograph, taken from the International Space Station, shows the retreat of the Upsala glacier in Argentine Patagonia from 2002 to 2013.
Image: NASA
Hold your breath!
Dust often covers remote deserts - however, in September 2015, satellites offered this impressive view of Middle East areas enveloped by a dust storm, or haboob, affecting large populated regions. What satellites can observe from space supports air quality sensors on the ground to understand patterns on how the storms start and develop. These findings can improve forecasting methods.
Image: NASA/J. Schmaltz
'Naked mountain'
These are the words NASA used to describe the lack of snow on California's Mount Shasta, a crucial source of water for the region. Images documenting drought over the past years have consistently been showing brown mountains that should be white, and bare earth where people seek water. As ice melts, drought grows.
