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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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