Future Missions
Current plans supplied by CEOS agencies estimate that around 50 new satellite missions will be launched for operation between 2016 and 2020. The months ahead mark a significant era for satellite Earth observations, with more than half of these new missions to be launched by the end of 2016.
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 Geo-Kompsat 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. The new generation of geostationary satellites such as Himawari-8 & -9, and GOES-R offer increased spatial, temporal and spectral resolutions that may revolutionise real-time monitoring applications beyond meteorology.
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-2/3 (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) and DSCOVR (2015), 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 new missions. SMOS (2009) and SAC-D/Aquarius (2011-2015) 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 Jason-3 (2016) missions, and on the METOP and JPSS series. SWOT (2021) will bring new capabilities. Europe’s Copernicus programme also provides the Sentinel-3 mission (2016). Sentinel-3 is a multi-instrument mission to measure sea-surface topography, sea- and land-surface temperature, ocean colour and land colour with high-end accuracy and reliability. The mission will support ocean forecasting systems, as well as environmental and climate monitoring.
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. New 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. Copernicus contributes with the Sentinel-1 (2014) and -2 (2015) missions, and USGS/NASA have contributed Landsat-8 which launched in 2013. Landsat-9 is scheduled for 2020.
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 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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