This was the challenge faced by a team at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the UK, which faced months testing the instrument that will deliver data on air quality around the world.
Specifically, the Sentinel-5 mission will measure the distribution of atmospheric trace gases such as ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, formaldehyde, glyoxal, carbon monoxide, and methane, as well as aerosols.
The Sentinel-5 instrument incorporates five optical spectrometers that analyse the solar light reflected by the Earth. The wide spectral range, extending from the ultraviolet to the shortwave infrared, enables a wide range of different gases to be detected and measured, said the European Space Agency. It covers seven different spectral bands: UV-1 (270-300nm), UV-2 (300-370nm), VIS (370-500nm), NIR-1 (685-710nm), NIR-2 (745-773nm), SWIR-1 (1590-1675nm) and SWIR-3 (2305-2385nm).
Once launched into Sun-synchronous orbit aboard MetOp-SG-A1, the satellite and the Sentinel-5 instrument will be operated by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, Eumetsat (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites). Based in Germany, the intergovernmental organisation will also be responsible for data acquisition, processing and distribution to users.
The first of the MetOp Second Generation A-type weather satellites is expected to be launched in 2025.
“We are thrilled to have passed this important milestone which is a significant step forward to realising the mission and its important task delivery key data for air-quality forecasts, climate monitoring and more,” said Didier Martin, ESA’s Sentinel-5 Project Manager. “We would like to thank all the teams involved for all their hard work. We now look forward to seeing Sentinel-5 installed on the MetOp Second Generation-A1 satellite by Airbus in Toulouse. Airbus in Germany has led the consortium, which includes more than 45 companies from 13 European countries, in the development and build of this Copernicus mission.”
The Sentinel-5 follows on from the Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite, that has delivered information on air-quality since it was launched in 2017. Sentinel-5, with its 2700 km-wide swath, will offer full global coverage every day.
You can read more about the mission on the ESA website.
Since the data will be freely open for access – as is the case for all Copernicus missions – the scientific community and the general public worldwide will benefit from Sentinel-5, highlights the ESA.
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Alun Williams
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