Copernicus: the Sentinel fleet
Europe’s Copernicus programme is the world’s largest supplier of Earth observation data. This data is collected by the Sentinels, a flotilla of spacecraft designed to monitor different aspects of Earth’s environment.
Funded by the European Commission, Copernicus is implemented by the EU Member States through the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) and others.
Following Brexit, the UK was forced to leave the Copernicus programme, but a bespoke agreement announced in September 2023 has essentially allowed the UK to rejoin.
The Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Monitoring (CO2M) is one of six Copernicus Sentinel Expansion missions that ESA is developing on behalf of the EU. The other five missions are…
COPERNICUS LAND SURFACE TEMPERATURE MONITORING (LSTM)
LSTM will measure land-surface temperature to support agricultural productivity in a world of increasing waterscarcity and climate variability.
COPERNICUS HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGING MISSION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (CHIME)
CHIME will provide routine observations from visible to infrared to support sustainable agricultural and biodiversity management, as well as soil property characterisation.
COPERNICUS L-BAND SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR (ROSE-L)
ROSE-L will provide radar observations of Earth to support forest management, precision farming and food security, and monitor polar ice sheets.
COPERNICUS IMAGINE MICROWAVE RADIOMETER (CIMR)
CIMR will provide observations of sea-surface temperature, sea-ice concentration and sea-surface salinity to support Arctic communities.
COPERNICUS POLAR ICE AND SNOW TOPOGRAPHY ALTIMETER (CRISTAL)
CRISTAL will measure sea-ice thickness and overlying snow deposits, to support polar maritime operations. It’ll also measure the height of ice sheets and glaciers around the world.