Copernicus Programme: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:17, 19 June 2025

Revision as of 00:08, 27 June 2025

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* '''[[European Remote-Sensing Satellite|ERS]]''': the European Remote Sensing Satellite ERS-1 (1991–2000) was ESA's first Earth observation satellite. ERS-2 (1995–2011) provided data related to ocean surface temperature, winds at sea and atmospheric ozone.

* '''[[Envisat]]''' (2002–2012): launched in 2002, ESA's Envisat was the largest civilian Earth Observation spacecraft ever built. It carried sophisticated optical and radar instruments among which the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) and the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS). Envisat provided continuous observation and monitoring of the Earth's land, atmosphere, oceans and ice caps. After losing contact with the satellite on 8 April 2012, ESA formally announced the end of Envisat's mission on 9 May 2012.<ref name="missionend">{{cite web|url=http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM1SXSWT1H_index_0.html|title=ESA declares end of mission for Envisat|publisher=ESA|date=9 May 2012}}</ref>

* '''[[Living Planet Programme|Earth Explorers]]''': ESA's Earth Explorers are smaller research missions dedicated to specific aspects of our Earth environment. Earth Explorer missions focus on research of the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere and the Earth's interior with the overall emphasis on learning more about the interactions between these components and the impact that human activity is having on natural Earth processes. The following two of the nine missions selected for implementation currently (as of 2020) contribute to Copernicus:

** [[Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity|SMOS]] (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity), launched on 2 November 2009.

** [[CryoSat-2]] (the measurement of the thickness of floating ice), launched on 8 April 2010.