EARTHCARE is a planned space mission by the European and Japanese space agencies. In May 2008 ESA signed a contract worth €263 million (£220 million/$360 million) with EADS subsidiary Astrium. As the prime contractor, Astrium is responsible for the satellite’s design, development and integration.[1] Design and construction began in early 2009 while launch is due for 2016.[2] EARTHCARE is an acronym standing for EARTH Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer, and the aims of the mission are to improve understanding of the cloud, radiative and aerosol processes that affect the Earth's climate.[3] As of January 2011, the total budget for the project is £500 million (€590 million/$810 million).[4] A significant proportion of the project will be manufactured in the UK, the main structure of the spacecraft will be built by RUAG Space in Switzerland and subsequently completed in Astrium's Stevenage facility, while one of the instruments will be made in Sevenoaks by SSTL and another in Bristol, Somerset by SEA Group Ltd.[5]
The project is part of ESA's Living Planet Programme.
The satellite will make measurements useful for better understanding the Earth's thermal and solar radiation balance. In particular. a combination of active (lidar and radar) and passive (radiometers and imagers) instruments will enable EarthCARE to simultaneously measure the vertical and horizontal distribution of clouds and atmospheric aerosols along with Top-Of-Atmosphere (TOA) Long- and Short-wave fluxes.
The spacecraft will feature four distinct instruments:
- Backscatter Lidar (ATLID) - ESA High-spectral resolution and depolarisation
- Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) - JAXA/NICT -36 dBZ sensitivity, 500 m vertical range, Doppler
- Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI) - ESA 7 channels, 150 km swath, 500 m pixel
- Broadband Radiometer (BBR) - ESA 2 channels, 3 views (nadir, fore and aft). A broadband Radiometer.
The satellite is to fly in a 400 km high polar orbit at an inclination of 97 degrees. It will weigh 1700 kg.
External links[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ http://www.esa.int/esaLP/SEMMBQ1YUFF_LPearthcare_0.html
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12506847
- ^ http://www.esa.int/esaLP/ASESMYNW9SC_LPearthcare_0.html
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12506847
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12506847
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Facilities
|
|
|
|
Communications
|
|
|
|
Programmes
|
|
|
|
Predecessors
|
|
|
|
Related topics
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Science
|
|
Solar physics
|
|
|
|
Planetary science
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Earth observation
|
|
|
|
|
Human spaceflight
|
|
|
|
Telecommunications
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cancelled
|
|
|
|
Failed
|
|
|
|
