Air pollution is a global health problem and is also closely linked to the causes of climate change. Air pollutants include trace gases and particles that originate from burning fuel in homes, traffic and industrial facilities. Blown by the wind, desert dust, emissions from wildfires, as well as emissions from volcanoes cause episodes of air pollution.

With its ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared light spectrometer, or UVN for short, Copernicus Sentinel-4 delivers high-resolution data on air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulphur dioxide and formaldehyde, as well as aerosols.

Name: Copernicus Sentinel-4Launch: 1 July 2025 (embarked on MTG-S1)Launch site: Florida, USARocket: SpaceX Falcon 9Orbit: Geostationary, 36 000 km above the equatorRevisit time: 60 minutesInstrument: Imaging spectrometer covering the ultraviolet, ...

The Copernicus Sentinel-4 mission, part of the European Union’s Earth Observation Programme, will monitor air quality with its ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared light (UVN) spectrometer. It will be mounted on board the series of Meteosat Third Generation – Sounder (MTG-S) satellites.The mission will be able to provide hourly observations, in a breakthrough for air quality monitoring from space.Learn more about the satellite and its innovative UVN instrument with these soundbites from ESA experts, recorded during the cleanroom event held in Bremen on 20 February 2025.

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Looking at our planet and its environment for the benefit of all European citizens

The Sentinel missions are developed specifically for the operational needs of the Copernicus programme. Each Sentinel mission is based on a constellation of satellites to fulfil revisit and coverage requirements, providing robust datasets for Copernicus services.