NASA, Partners Share First Data From New US-European Sea Satellite
Launched in November, Sentinel-6B will track ocean height with ultra-precision to advance maritime forecasting, national security and more.
Sentinel-6B, a joint mission by NASA and its U.S. and European partners to study 90% of the planet’s oceans for the benefit of communities and commerce, has begun returning its first measurements since its launch in November. A newly released data map shows sea levels across a wide swath of the East Coast and Atlantic Ocean.
About the size of a pickup truck, Sentinel-6B is a continuation of a decades-long effort by the United States and Europe to track ocean heights down to fractions of an inch using radar altimetry. Once its instruments and algorithms are fully calibrated next year, Sentinel-6B will provide actionable data to ship crews, weather forecasters, national security, and the millions of people who live and work near coastlines.
“NASA does incredible science every day using the unique vantage point of space to deliver vital data directly into the hands of decision-makers on storms, navigation, flooding and more,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington. “The ocean measurements collected by Sentinel-6B during its first months in orbit benefit everyone, providing key information to ensure the prosperity and security of coastal communities around the world. »
In addition to measuring sea level, instruments on board the satellite will collect information on wind speed, wave height, atmospheric temperature and humidity. In turn, this data can be used by U.S. agencies as well as to refine the Goddard Earth Observing System’s atmospheric forecast models, which NASA’s Engineering and Safety Center relies on to plan for a safer reentry of astronauts returning from Artemis missions.
Mission teams have verified in recent weeks that Sentinel-6B and all its instruments are healthy. This includes the Poseidon-4 Synthetic Aperture Radar Altimeter, the Advanced Microwave Climate Radiometer, the Global Navigation Satellite System – Radio Occultation, and the Precise Orbit Determination Package.
In the visualization above, showing data captured by Sentinel-6B on November 26, the intersecting bands trace the satellite’s trajectory as it orbits Earth. The image also shows data collected on the same day by the satellite’s twin, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, launched in 2020. Data in these bands are overlaid with combined observations from other satellites of sea level in the region depicted. Red indicates higher water relative to the long-term average; blue areas indicate lower water. Because the spacecraft’s instruments have not been fully calibrated, the data is considered preliminary but also very promising.
Together, Sentinel-6B and Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich form the Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS (Continuity of Service) mission developed by NASA, ESA (European Space Agency), EUMETSAT (European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
“These first bright images from Sentinel-6B highlight the value of Earth science observations in providing life-saving and economic data to communities along our world’s coasts, where a third of the world’s population lives,” said Karen St. Germain, director of NASA’s Earth Sciences Division at agency headquarters. “This achievement also highlights the power of partnerships with ESA, EUMETSAT and our sister science agency, NOAA, to advance our collective understanding of Earth systems and put this understanding of Earth science to the benefit of humanity. »
Sentinel-6/Jason-CS adds to a continuing dataset of sea level rise that began in the early 1990s. Since then, the rate of global sea level rise has doubled and currently averages about 0.17 inches (4.3 millimeters) per year. The rate differs between locations, with implications for coastal infrastructure, trade routes and storm formation.
“The accuracy and precision of this mission’s baseline data set is a testament to the foresight more than 30 years ago to invest in the technology and expertise that makes this possible,” said Dave Gallagher, director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “We are proud to continue our partnership to collect these critical metrics over another decade, and even more proud of the teams behind this most recent milestone.”
Flying 830 miles (1,336 kilometers) above Earth, Sentinel-6B is about 30 seconds from its twin, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, currently the official sea level reference satellite. Eventually, Sentinel-6B will assume this role and Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich will move into a different orbit.
Learn more about Sentinel-6B
Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS was jointly developed by ESA, EUMETSAT, NASA and NOAA, with financial support from the European Commission and technical support from CNES. The mission, which began with Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, marked the first international participation in Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth observation program.
Managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, JPL provided three scientific instruments for each Sentinel-6 satellite: the Advanced Microwave Radiometer, the Global Navigation Satellite System – Radio Occultation, and the Laser Retroreflector Array. NASA also provided launch services, ground systems supporting the operation of NASA’s science instruments, science data processors for two of those instruments, and support to the international ocean surface topography community.
To learn more about Sentinel-6B, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/sentinel-6B/
Contacts with news media
Elizabeth Vlock
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
elizabeth.a.vlock@nasa.gov
Andrew Wang / Andrew Bon
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
626-379-6874 / 626-840-4291
andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov / andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov
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