Sentinel-3 ESA’s Next Generation Satellite Scheduled to Launch in

Sentinel-3 satellite which is scheduled to launch in 2013 is the third in a series of five space missions European Space Agency (ESA) is developing for the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative. The missions main objective is to determine the parameters of sea surface topography, sea and land surface temperature as well as ocean and land surface color.

Sentinel 3 Satellite Sensor

Image Credit: ESA

Sentinel-3 will support services related to the marine environment, such as maritime safety services that need ocean surface-wave information, ocean-current forecasting services that need surface-temperature information, and sea-water quality and pollution monitoring services that require advanced ocean color products from both the open ocean and coastal areas.

Sentinel 3 Technical Overview

The mission’s optical sensors will comprise an Ocean Land Color Instrument (OLCI), which is based on Envisat’s Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS), and a Sea Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR), which is a successor to Envisat’s Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR). Sentinel-3 will serve numerous land, atmospheric and cryospheric application areas such as land-use change monitoring, forest cover mapping and fire detection.

The high-inclination orbit of Sentinel-3 brings the added benefit of routine altimetric observations of marine and land ice in the Arctic and Antarctic high-latitude regions. GMES Sentinel-3 shall provide continuity to the high-resolution along track marine and land ice surface measurements of CryoSat, and shall result in the continued ability to derive sea-ice thickness and ice sheet topography from elevation profiles.

Satellite Image Data for Sea Floor Mapping and Coastal Management

Remote sensing data from satellite sensors, aerial photography and LIDAR for coastal management has been highly effective in acquiring information for marine habitat mapping, water quality monitoring, oil spill detection, emergencies, environmental impact, red tide monitoring, and mapping of reclamation activities for many years.

Satellite images from high resolution satellite sensors and moderate resolution sensors can provide researchers and scientists with data for assessment and analysis of water temperature, salinity, phytoplankton, hydrology, shoreline changes, bathymetry, soil moisture and potential threats to our coasts. Assessments and predictive capabilities through satellite imagery from satellite sensors incorporated with GIS mapping are needed to predict onset of events that may significantly affect human health, critical wetlands and ecosystems, and economic development.

About Satellite Imaging Corporation:

Satellite Imaging Corporation (SIC), a privately held technology company, provides global satellite imaging and processing services for a number of industries, including oil and gas, mining, cadastre, tax mapping, construction, environmental, forestry and agriculture.

The company specializes in mono and stereo satellite imaging technology producing seamless orthorectified Satellite Imaging mosaics DEM’s and 3D terrain models for many industries using CAD and GIS applications including, flight simulations, terrain modeling, engineering and construction using high and medium resolution mono and stereo satellite image data.

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