| | |  | The Changing Earth | |
Future Earth Explorer Missions
Three candidate Earth Explorer Core missions are currently undergoing Feasibility Study (Phase A). One of these missions will eventually be selected for implementation and thus lead to the launch of ESA's seventh Earth Explorer mission around 2016.
The procedure for developing new Earth Explorer missions involves the science community from the very beginning. Through a peer-reviewed selection process, this on-going user-driven approach provides tools to further understand and monitor our planet.
The following three missions were selected to undergo Feasibility Study at the end of February 2009:
| | | BIOMASS measuring concept |
BIOMASS - to take global measurements of forest biomass
The objective of the BIOMASS mission is to acquire global measurements of forest biomass to assess terrestrial carbon stocks and fluxes. The mission concept is envisaged as a novel spaceborne P-band synthetic aperture polarimetric radar operating at 435 MHz and a 6 MHz bandwidth. In addition to valuable data on forest biomass, the choice of radar sensor means that the mission could also provide new information on ice-sheet thickness and internal structures in cold regions, subsurface geology in arid regions, as well as data on soil moisture, permafrost and sea-surface salinity.
| | CoReH2O measuring concept | |
CoReH2O - to make detailed observations of key snow, ice and water cycle characteristics
The CoReH2O mission concept aims to fill the gaps in current information on snow, glaciers and surface water. The objective is to improve the modelling and prediction of water balance and streamflow for snow covered and glacierised basins, the modelling of water and energy cycles at high latitudes, and the forecasting of water supply from snow cover and glaciers, including the relation to climate change and variability. The mission concept employs twin frequency synthetic aperture radars (9.6 and 17.2 GHz) in two consecutive mission phases to deliver all-weather, year-round information on regional and continental-scale snow-water equivalent.
| | | PREMIER measuring concept |
PREMIER - to understand atmospheric processes linking trace gases, radiation, chemistry and climate
The PREMIER concept aims to advance our understanding of the processes that link trace gases, radiation and chemistry in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. The radiative effects of water and clouds are at a maximum in this region. It is also a region characterised by small-scale processes that have not been studied by previous missions. The instrumentation will consist of an infrared limb-imaging spectrometer and a millimetre-wave limb-sounder. By linking with MetOp and the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) data, PREMIER also aims to provide insights into processes occurring in the lower troposphere.
Earth Explorer 8
As a result of the Call for Proposals for the eighth Earth Explorer released in October 2009, the Florescence Explorer (FLEX) and CarbonSat missions have been approved to move forward to Phase A/B1. Approval was given by ESA's Earth Observation Programme Board on 24 November 2010.
Last update: 26 November 2010 | |
