Thursday, March 31, 2022
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Wednesday, March 30, 2022
International Sea Level Satellite Takes Over From Predecessor - EARTH
Meltwater from Greenland glaciers like the one pictured can contribute significantly to sea level rise. Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich monitors the height of Earth’s oceans so that researchers can better understand the amount and rate of sea level rise. Credits: NASA Earth Observatory using Landsat data from USGS
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, the newest addition to a long line of
ocean-monitoring satellites, becomes the reference satellite for sea level
measurements.
On March 22, the newest U.S.-European sea level satellite, named Sentinel-6
Michael Freilich, became the official reference satellite for global sea level
measurements. This means that sea surface height data collected by other
satellites will be compared to the information produced by Sentinel-6 Michael
Freilich to ensure their accuracy.
Launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in November 2020, the satellite is
continuing a nearly 30-year legacy started by the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite, which
began its mission to measure sea surface height in the early 1990s. A series of
successor satellites have carried on the effort since then, with Sentinel-6
Michael Freilich being the most recent. Its twin, Sentinel-6B, is slated to
launch in 2025.
“These missions, of which Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is the latest, are
the gold standard when it comes to sea level measurements, which are critical
for understanding and monitoring climate change,” said Josh Willis, Sentinel-6
Michael Freilich project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Southern California.
Follow Link: International Sea Level Satellite Takes Over From Predecessor | NASA
Follow along with Sentinel-6 Michael
Freilich as it orbits Earth collecting critical sea level data. Click anywhere
on the image to take it for a spin. View the full interactive experience and
fly along with the mission in real time at Eyes on the Solar
System. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Long-term records of sea level height are key to
monitoring how much, and how fast, the oceans are rising in a warming climate.
“We can’t lose track of how much sea level has gone up because if we do, it’s
hard to predict what’s going to happen in the decades to come,” Willis added.
“The unprecedented accuracy of the sea level
measurements provided by this mission ensures not only the continuity of a
30-year data record, but allows improving our understanding of climate change
and the impact of rising seas on coastal areas and communities,” said Julia
Figa Saldana, ocean altimetry program manager at the European Organisation for
the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).
After Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich launched, it settled
into orbit flying 30 seconds behind its predecessor, Jason-3. Science and engineering teams have spent the time since launch making
sure Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich was collecting the intended data and that the
information was accurate. Some of the initial data was made available last year for use in tasks like weather forecasting. And after
further validation, the scientists agreed that Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich
should become the reference satellite for sea level measurements.
Later this year, teams will move Jason-3 into what’s
called an interleaved orbit. From that new position, the ground track – or the
strip of Earth that Jason-3’s instruments see as the satellite travels around
the planet – will run in between the ground tracks of successive orbits for
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich. Jason-3 will keep measuring sea level height from
the interleaved orbit, although it will no longer serve as the official
reference sea level satellite. But by continuing to collect sea level data,
Jason-3 will essentially double the number of measurements seen by each pass of
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, helping to greatly increase the spatial resolution
of sea level measurements provided by both satellites.
More About the Mission
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, named after former NASA
Earth Science Division Director Michael Freilich, is one of two satellites that
compose the Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS (Continuity of Service) mission.
Sentinel-6/Jason-CS was jointly developed by ESA
(European Space Agency), EUMETSAT, NASA, and NOAA, with funding support from
the European Commission and technical support on performance from CNES
(France’s National Centre for Space Studies). Spacecraft monitoring and
control, as well as the processing of all the altimeter science data, is
carried out by EUMETSAT on behalf of the EU’s Copernicus programme, with the
support of all partner agencies.
JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, contributed
three science instruments for each Sentinel-6 satellite: the Advanced Microwave
Radiometer, the Global Navigation
Satellite System - Radio Occultation,
and the Laser Retroreflector
Array. NASA also contributed launch services,
ground systems supporting operation of the NASA science instruments, the
science data processors for two of these instruments, and support for the U.S.
members of the international Ocean Surface Topography Science Team.
For more about Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/sentinel-6
To access data from Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich,
visit: https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/Sentinel-6?sections=data & https://search.earthdata.nasa.gov/search?q=sentinel-6
Source: International
Sea Level Satellite Takes Over From Predecessor | NASA
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