EarthCARE

EarthCARE

Artist's view of EarthCARE
Mission type	Earth observation
Operator	ESA/JAXA/NICT
Website	.intEarthCare on esa
Mission duration	2 years (planned)
Spacecraft properties
Bus	AstroBus-L
Manufacturer	EADS Astrium
Launch mass	~ 2,000 kilograms (4,400 lb)
Dimensions	2.5 by 19 metres (8.2 ft × 62.3 ft)
Power	~ 2500 watts
Start of mission
Launch date	2016[1]
Rocket	Soyuz ST-B/Fregat-MT (planned)
Launch site	Kourou ELS
Contractor	Arianespace Starsem
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Sun-synchronous
Perigee	393 kilometres (244 mi)
Apogee	393 kilometres (244 mi)
Inclination	97 degrees
Period	92 minutes
Repeat interval	25 days
Epoch	Planned
Transponders
Band	S Band (TT&C support) X Band (science data acquisition)
Bandwidth	2 Mbit/s download (S Band) 150 Mbit/s download (X Band) 64kbit/s upload (S Band)
Instruments
ATLID: ATmospheric LIDar CPR: Cloud Profiling Radar MSI: Multi-Spectral Imager BBR: BroadBand Radiometer
Living Planet Programme

EarthCARE is a planned joint European/Japanese (ESA/JAXA/NICT) satellite, the sixth of ESA's Living Planet Programme. The main goal of the mission is the observation and characterization of clouds and aerosols as well as measuring the reflected solar radiation and the infrared radiation emitted from Earth’s surface.^[2][3]

History

In May 2008 ESA signed a contract worth €263 million (£220 million/$360 million) with EADS subsidiary Astrium. As the prime contractor, Astrium is responsible for the satellite’s design, development and integration.^[4] Design and construction began in early 2009 while launch is due for 2016.^[5] EarthCARE is an acronym standing for Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer, and the aims of the mission are to improve understanding of the cloud, radiative and aerosol processes that affect the Earth's climate.^[6] As of January 2011, the total budget for the project is £500 million (€590 million/$810 million).^[5] A significant proportion of the project will be manufactured in the UK, the main structure of the spacecraft will be built by RUAG Space in Switzerland and subsequently completed in Astrium's Stevenage facility, while one of the instruments will be made in Sevenoaks by SSTL and another in Bristol, Somerset by SEA Group Ltd.^[5]

Science

The satellite will make measurements useful for better understanding the Earth's thermal and solar radiation balance. In particular, a combination of active (lidar and radar) and passive (radiometers and imagers) instruments will enable EarthCARE to simultaneously measure the vertical and horizontal distribution of clouds and atmospheric aerosols along with Top-Of-Atmosphere (TOA) Long- and Short-wave fluxes.

The spacecraft will feature four distinct instruments:

• Backscatter Lidar (ATLID) - ESA High-spectral resolution and depolarisation
• Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) - JAXA/NICT -36 dBZ sensitivity, 500 m vertical resolution, Doppler
• Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI) - ESA 7 channels, 150 km swath, 500 m pixel
• Broadband Radiometer (BBR) - ESA 2 channels, 3 views (nadir, fore and aft). A broadband Radiometer.

See also

• ESA's Living Planet Programme
  • GOCE
  • SMOS
  • CryoSat & CryoSat-2
  • Swarm
  • ADM-Aeolus

External links

• EarthCARE page on ESA website
• EarthCARE on ESA eoPortal
• EarthCARE page on JAXA website

References

1. ^ "Earth Explorers overview". ESA. 6 February 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014
2. ^ "EarthCARE". ESA's EarthNet Online. Retrieved 2013-10-30. 
3. ^ "EarthCARE (Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer)". ESA's eoPortal. Retrieved 2013-10-30. 
4. ^ http://www.esa.int/esaLP/SEMMBQ1YUFF_LPearthcare_0.html
5. ^ ^{a b c} http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12506847
6. ^ http://www.esa.int/esaLP/ASESMYNW9SC_LPearthcare_0.html