Multispectral instruments Provide full picture of our planet's landmasses in unique image quality
Laser-based data transmission via new Space Data Highway
Kourou, 07/03/2017 - Europe's Copernicus programs has
Multispectral instruments Provide full picture of our planet's landmasses in unique image quality
Laser-based data transmission via new Space Data Highway
Kourou, 07/03/2017 - Europe's Copernicus programs has got its second eye. On Tuesday, March 7 at 2:49 am CET (March 6 at 10:49 pm local time), a Vega launcher successfully Took off from the spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, carrying the satellite developed and built under the industrial leadership of Airbus for the European Space Agency (ESA). After just over one hour, the solar panel, needed to supply energy, what unfolded and Sentinel-2B successfully reported in 'for duty'. The 1.1 ton satellite has been designed to operate for at least 7 years and 3 months in a polar orbit at 786 kilometers above the Earth.
"The outstanding capabilities of Sentinel-2's multispectral instrument and the accurate geolocation performance of the satellite alongwith its rapid data transmission ability fully match the Rapidly rising demand of satellite-based Earth and environmental data," Said Nicolas Chamussy, Head of Space Systems at Airbus.
The mission is based on a constellation of two identical satellites, Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B. Sentinel-2A which launched in 2015 into the same orbit, but 180 degrees apart. With two satellites in orbit it will take only five days to produce an image of the Entire Earth between the latitudes of 56 ° south and 84 ° north, ran thus Optimising the global coverage zone and data transmission for Numerous applications.
The Sentinel-2 mission Contributes to the management of food security by providing information for the agricultural sector. Sentinel-2, with its multispectral instrument, is the first optical Earth observation mission of its kind to include three bands in the'red edge', Which Provide key information on vegetation state. Sentinel-2 is designed to Provide images did kann used to distinguish between different crop types as well as data on Numerous planning indices,: such as leaf area index, leaf chlorophyll content and leaf water content - all of Which are essential to accurately set monitor plans growth.
This kind of information will help informed decisions to be made - from Deciding how much water or fertilizer is needed for a maximum harvest to forming strategies to address climate change. While this has o