43 lines
7.1 KiB
Markdown
43 lines
7.1 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "Copernicus Programme"
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chunk: 4/5
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source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernicus_Programme"
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category: "reference"
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tags: "science, encyclopedia"
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date_saved: "2026-05-05T12:42:31.715966+00:00"
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instance: "kb-cron"
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---
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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.
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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.
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Earth Explorers: ESA's Earth Explorers are smaller research missions dedicated to specific aspects of 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:
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SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity), launched on 2 November 2009.
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CryoSat-2 (the measurement of the thickness of floating ice), launched on 8 April 2010.
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MSG: the Meteosat Second Generation is a joint project between ESA and EUMETSAT.
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MetOp: MetOp is Europe's first polar-orbiting satellite dedicated to operational meteorology. MetOp is a series of three satellites launched sequentially over 12 years from October 2006 to November 2018. The series provides data for both operational meteorology and climate studies until at least 2027.
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French SPOT: SPOT (Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre) consists of a series of earth observation satellites providing high-resolution images of the Earth. SPOT-4 and SPOT-5 include sensors called VEGETATION able to monitor continental ecosystems.
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German TerraSAR-X: TerraSAR-X is an Earth observation satellite providing high quality topographic information. TerraSAR-X data has a wide range of applications (e.g. land use / land cover mapping, topographic mapping, forest monitoring, emergency response monitoring, and environmental monitoring).
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Italian COSMO-SkyMed: the COnstellation of small Satellites for the Mediterranean basin Observation is an Earth observation satellite system that consists of (in the 1st generation) four satellites equipped with Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) sensors. Applications include seismic hazard analysis, environmental disaster monitoring and agricultural mapping. As of 2020, a second-generation of COSMO-SkyMed satellites (called Cosmo-Skymed 2nd generation) is under development.
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UK and international DMC: the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) is a constellation of remote-sensing satellites. There have been eight satellites in the DMC-program; 3 are currently (as of 2020) active. The constellation provides emergency Earth imaging for disaster relief under the International Charter for Space and Major Disasters.
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French-American OSTM/Jason-2 (2008-2019): the OSTM/JASON-2 satellite provided precise measurements of ocean surface topography, surface wind speed, and wave height; as this type of measurement is a crucial requirement for the Copernicus Marine Services, the European Commission has included this type of mission in its latest communication on the future Copernicus Space Component as Sentinel-6.
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French Pléiades: the Pléiades constellation consists of two satellites providing very high-resolution images of the Earth.
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Planet Labs, a commercial satellite imagery provider whose goal is to image the entirety of the planet daily to monitor changes and pinpoint trends.
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Prométhée Earth Intelligence, a French Earth Observation satellite operator that will provide hyperspectral and multispectral images with its planned Japetus constellation of 20 satellites.
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OroraTech, a Germany-based commercial earth observation provider focused on wildfire situational awareness, is delivering its FOREST constellation thermal-infrared data (MWIR, 2x LWIR).
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HiVE, a German satellite constellation for thermal imaging
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Hydra, a Spanish satellite constellation for thermal imaging
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Data provided by non-European satellite missions (e.g. Landsat, GOSAT, Radarsat-2) can also be used by Copernicus.
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DigitalGlobe, an American commercial vendor of space imagery and geospatial content, provides imagery from satellites with a true maximum resolution of up to 25 cm. The DigitalGlobe tasking constellation currently includes GeoEye-1, WorldView-1, WorldView-2 and WorldView-3. Archive data is also available from Ikonos and QuickBird.
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LANDSAT program (8 satellites, 3 active).
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GOSAT program (2 satellites, 2 active).
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Radarsat-2 satellite.
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== In-Situ Coordination ==
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GMES In-Situ Coordination (GISC) was a FP7 funded initiative, lasted for three years (January 2010 – December 2012) and was coordinated by the European Environment Agency (EEA). Since 2014 EEA has been responsible for Copernicus In-Situ coordination under the Contribution Agreement between the EU (represented by the European Commission) and the EEA, signed 1 December 2014.
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In situ data are all data from sources other than Earth observation satellites. Consequently, all ground-based, air-borne, and ship/buoy-based observations and measurements that are needed to implement and operate the Copernicus services are part of the in-situ component. In-situ data are indispensable; they are assimilated into forecasting models, provide calibration and validation of space-based information, and contribute to analysis or filling gaps not available from space sources.
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GISC was undertaken with reference to other initiatives, such as INSPIRE (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community) and SEIS (Shared Environmental Information System) as well as existing coordination and data exchange networks. The coordinated access to data retains the capacity to link directly data providers and the service providers because it is based on the principles of SEIS and INSPIRE. The implementation of INSPIRE is embedded in the synergies and meta-data standards that were used in GISC. Data and information aims to be managed as close as possible to its source in order to achieve a distributed system, by involving countries and existing capacities that maintain and operate the required observation infrastructure.
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== Services component ==
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Copernicus services are dedicated to the monitoring and forecasting of the Earth's subsystems. They contribute directly to the monitoring of climate change. Copernicus services also address emergency management (e.g. in case of natural disaster, technological accidents or humanitarian crises) and security-related issues (e.g. maritime surveillance, border control).
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Copernicus services address six main thematic areas: |