Just two weeks after it was launched, the Copernicus Sentinel-3C satellite returned its first images and measurements from two of its key instruments – a major milestone that confirms the satellite is working well and on the road to monitoring the health of Earth’s oceans, land, cryosphere and atmosphere.

The animation shows measurements of the height of the Greenland Ice Sheet acquired by Sentinel-3C between 30 September and 4 October. The measurements demonstrate that the altimeter is performing well, with all of the measurement tracks closely matching the reference digital elevation model.

Monitoring changes in the height of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets is essential for understanding the impacts of climate change and, importantly, for improving predictions of future sea-level rise. Ice loss from the sheets is a major contributor to sea-level rise, and satellite altimetry provides a valuable way of tracking changes in their surface elevation over time.

The animation uses data from Sentinel-3C and generated with the assistance of AI.

Read full story: Sentinel-3C returns its first views of Earth