ESA : Sentinel-2 teams prepare for space.-Equipos de Sentinel-2 se preparan para el espacio.....

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Sentinel-2_teams_prepare_for_space

Sentinel-2: Colour vision for Copernicus

 

16 February 2017  A VUELO

Going to space is never routine, and Sentinel-2 mission controllers are leaving nothing to chance as they prepare for the critical days following next month’s liftoff.

Launched in 2015, ESA’s Sentinel-2 mission is using the first of two near-identical ‘colour-vision’ satellites to deliver sophisticated information that is central to Europe’s Copernicus programme.

Now, the Sentinel-2A craft is about to be joined by its twin, Sentinel-2B, which will complete the pairing that will cover all Earth’s land surfaces, large islands, and inland and coastal waters every five days.

Sentinel-2B will be lofted into orbit by a Vega rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at 01:49 GMT (02:49 CET) on 7 March, and teams at ESA’s mission control centre in Darmstadt, Germany, will be watching closely.

 

Acess the video

 

This will be the fifth Sentinel satellite that goes into space under ESA control.

“About an hour after liftoff, we’ll receive the satellite’s first signals just as it separates from the rockt’s upper stage. It will then unfold its solar panel and orient itself in space,” says Franco Marchese, the Sentinel-2A operations manager.

“For us, this marks the start of the crucial early orbit phase when we work around the clock to establish a two-way data link, and begin switching on and verifying the critical systems.

“We ensure the satellite is healthy and in a stable configuration in preparation for the first steps towards normal operations.”

Controlling around the clock

These first three days include unlocking the camera cover and configuring the satellite ready to perform manoeuvres.

 

Team training

 

But going to space is never routine and even with 19 months’ experience flying the first satellite, teams in Darmstadt have been conducting months-long simulation training to ensure everyone is ready for the planned entry into orbit and any possible problems.

“While we expect everything to go as planned, there are some things that can’t be predicted,” says Michelle Collins, Sentinel-2B operations manager.

“There could be a failure in hardware or a system on the satellite or on the ground. One of the ground tracking stations might unexpectedly go offline, or it may suddenly become necessary to avoid a piece of space debris.

“So, we have to be prepared, and work together closely as a team.”

In April 2014, Sentinel-1A was forced to avoid some space junk just hours after launch.

Training a team of teams

For launch and the early days in orbit, the engineers working directly on Sentinel-2 will be augmented by an extended ‘team of teams’.

This comprises experts from flight dynamics, ground stations, software systems and other specialist areas from the mission control centre, as well as a support team of Industry experts who built the satellite and the ESA engineers who designed and procured it.

Each has a valuable role, helping to ensure things go smoothly.

Managing operations

 

“By launch, we will have conducted 16 simulation sessions, culminating with a launch countdown dress rehearsal,” says flight director Pier Paolo Emanuelli.

“In the dress rehearsal, we’ll connect to the satellite at the launch site and to the ground stations, and perform our countdown activities. Only the launch itself is simulated – even the unsocial early-morning launch time will be used.

“We’ve ensured that the simulations cover not only the normal sequence of events but also how to react to unexpected events. Teams are definitely ready to go.

“Many teams at our centre in Darmstadt as well as across ESA, the EU and our partners in industry and at Arianespace have put a lot of excellent work into ensuring Sentinel-2B will be ready,” says Rolf Densing, ESA Director of Operations.

“This will be the fifth Sentinel satellite entrusted to ESA for care in the critical postlaunch period and the fourth that we’ll operate in routine flight. We’re ready and looking forward to an excellent launch.”

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ESA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

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The Earth: Spotlight on Sentinel-2

Hi My Friends: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., The vast potential of ESA’s upcoming Sentinel-2 satellites came into focus last week at a symposium in Italy on how they will benefit current and future projects that exploit Earth observation data.

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Forest cover maps of Gabon in 1990, 2000 and 2010 derived from Landsat data. Green areas represent forests, while yellow areas depict no forest cover. Grey represents no data coverage.
Credits: SIRS
The vast potential of ESA’s upcoming Sentinel-2 satellites came into focus last week at a symposium in Italy on how they will benefit current and future projects that exploit Earth observation data.

The humid and moist tropical climate of Gabon yields immense forests that cover over 85% of the land, making them the number-two driver of the national economy – and deforestation a subject of concern.

The GMES project on Forest Monitoring Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation mapped deforestation in Gabon from 1990 to 2010 using NASA’s Landsat satellite.

But the Equatorial African country’s heavy cloud cover means that imagery is often difficult to acquire over some areas.

While it takes Landsat 1.5–3.5 years to obtain imagery of the entire country, the future Sentinel-2 mission would require less than a year because of its more frequent coverage.

The future monitoring of land cover by Sentinel-2 was just one of the many topics covered at the Sentinel-2 Preparatory Symposium, hosted this week at ESA’s ESRIN centre for Earth observation in Frascati, Italy.  

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A mockup of the high-resolution images that the future Sentinel-2 mission will deliver, with a swath of 290 km and a resolution of 10 m per pixel. Using 82 observations from the German RapidEye satellites, the image covers the border area of northern Switzerland, southern Germany and eastern France, and includes a small portion of Austria and Lichtenstein. Sentinel-2, envisaged for launch in 2013, is one of five Sentinel missions that ESA is developing for Europe’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme. Credits: RapidEye

Other applications discussed include forestry, agriculture, cartography and the mapping of glaciers and wetlands.

“Sentinel-2 will fill the gap from both a research and operations perspective,” said Chris Steenmans, Head of Programme at the European Environment Agency’s Shared Environmental Information System.

“We are currently struggling with fragmented satellite data, so the timely information that Sentinel-2 will provide is important. The mission will also complement other Earth observation investments on a global level.”

Sentinel-2, planned for launch next year, is one of five Sentinel missions that ESA is developing for Europe’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme.

Through GMES, decision-makers will have access to reliable, timely and accurate information services to manage the environment, understand and mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure civil security.

At the recent symposium, Medhavy Thankappan, Director of Science and Strategy at Geoscience Australia’s National Earth Observation Group, presented a national land cover dataset based on analysis of satellite data acquired over an eight-year period.

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Sentinel-2 will provide systematic global acquisitions of high-resolution multispectral imagery for Europe's Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme.
Credits: Astrium GmbH

The dataset will provide the basis for monitoring Australia’s water resources, agricultural practices, soil erosion and forests.

“The next step is to update the land cover information with new data from a consistent source – to move from mapping to monitoring,” said Mr Thankappan.

“We would also like to move to a higher spatial resolution – that’s where Sentinel-2 comes in.”

Owing to its high resolution of 10 m per pixel, and wide swath of 290 km, global products from Sentinel-2 will be able to be applied locally.

The mission will adhere to the Sentinel Data Policy, which establishes full and open access to data acquired by all five of the upcoming Sentinels.

Participants at the symposium, however, expressed concern over the data delivery arrangement.

“Sentinel-2 is like a dream come true for the forest remote sensing community,” said Tuomas Häme, Research Professor at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.

“It is of utmost importance that the mission can be fully utilised by organising data delivery to the users as smoothly as it is organised for the similar missions with a free and open data policy.”

ESA.
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
ayabaca@gmail.com
ayabaca@hotmail.com
ayabaca@yahoo.com
Inscríbete en el Foro del blog y participa : A Vuelo De Un Quinde - El Foro!