Future Missions
Current plans supplied by CEOS agencies estimate that around 90 new satellite missions will be launched for operation between 2014 and 2018. The next few years mark a significant era for satellite Earth observations, with more then half of these new missions to be launched by the end of 2015.
These new programmes will ensure continuity of key measurements, provide improved resolutions and accuracies, and introduce several exciting new capabilities. Some of the highlights are described below.
Operational meteorology
The current geostationary programmes will continue operationally, supplemented by the continued growth China’s FY-3 series with launches planned almost every other year until 2021. Plans are also underway to build upon Korea’s COMS series with the future addition of two GeoKompsat satellites. The NOAA series of polar-orbiting satellites will evolve to become JPSS, featuring more advanced sensors and new capabilities. EUMETSAT will launch further MetOp series satellites and is planning to expand the capabilities of its geostationary satellite programme with the proposed launch of an advanced imager and a lightning imager on the Meteosat Third Generation – Imager (MTG-I) platform, and a hyperspectral infrared sounder on the MTG-sounder (MTG-S) platform. The capabilities will grow further through the inclusion of the ESA Sentinel-4 UVN mission on the MTG-S platform.
Atmospheric studies
New data on the chemistry and dynamics of Earth’s atmosphere will be gathered by missions from many countries, including future missions such as the GCOM series (JAXA), OCO-2 (NASA) and EarthCARE (ESA/JAXA). ADM-Aeolus (ESA) will provide new information on winds.
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Radiation budget
Continuity and new capabilities are provided by NASA’s SORCE (launched in 2003), by the Picard mission (2010) of CNES, and by operational meteorology missions, such as the MSG and JPSS series.
Ocean observations
Continuity and improvements in many current measurements have been assured with the launch of missions such as Envisat and Aqua. SMOS (2009) and SAC-D/Aquarius (2011) are worthy of special note since they provide new capabilities for measurements of ocean salinity. Ocean surface wind and topography measurements – pioneered by the Topex-Poseidon and ERS missions – continue operationally by sensors on the Jason-2 (2008) and the future Jason-3 (2015) missions and on the METOP and JPSS series. Europe’s GMES programme will also provide the Sentinel-3 mission.
Land surface observations
Advanced SAR systems on ALOS, TerraSAR-X & RADARSAT-2 have yielded new information on land-surface properties, and ESA’s SMOS has measured soil moisture since 2009. Future systems include ALOS-2 (2014, radar), SMAP (2014, soil moisture) and the RCM missions (from 2018). Operational meteorological satellites will supply continuous observation of land-surface radiation and vegetation parameters. GMES will contribute with the Sentinel-1 and -2 missions, and USGS/NASA have contributed LDCM/Landsat-8 which launched in 2013.
Hyperspectral observations
A new generation of sensors is emerging, featuring hundreds of different spectral bands, with the capability – using spectral-libraries – to remotely sense the chemical composition of surfaces. Future sensors (including HISUI/ALOS-3, HSI/EnMAP, HYC/Prisma, and HyspIRI) are expected to provide new and exciting capabilities for Earth observation of land, sea and atmosphere. |
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