SSTL
wins satellite imager contract
for climate modelling
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd
has secured a contract worth
€1.6 million from Astrium GmbH,
Germany to proceed with work on
a new contract to develop and
supply the Multi-Spectral Imager
(MSI) for the European Space
Agency’s (ESA) EarthCARE
Mission.
Earth Explorer Missions are part
of the Earth Observation
Envelope Programme (EOEP). They
are missions led by the European
Space Agency to address primary
research objectives. The
EarthCARE Mission has been
approved for implementation as
the third Earth Explorer Core
Mission. The mission will be
implemented in collaboration
with Japanese Aerospace
Exploration Agency who will
provide one of the core
Instruments. The EarthCARE
mission has been specifically
defined with the basic objective
of improving the understanding
of cloud-aerosol-radiation
interactions so as to include
them correctly and reliably in
climate and numerical weather
prediction models.
The EarthCARE mission aims to
improve the understanding of the
Earth's radiation balance and to
minimize uncertainties in
climate change prediction models
by acquiring accurate vertical
profiles of clouds and aerosols,
as well as measurements of top
of the atmosphere radiance. The
Multi Spectral Imager produced
by SSTL will provide information
on the horizontal structures of
clouds, such as cloud type and
cover, and cloud optical and
microphysical properties. The
instrument's 150 km swath will
be used to extend to three
dimensions the validity of the
aerosol, cloud and radiance
measurements made by the active
EarthCARE instruments which are
all directed towards the
satellite ground track.
This contract is for the first
stage of the Phase B design
study; the full Phase B is a 15
month programme. This will be
followed by a Phase C/D leading
to mission launch in 2013. SSTL
is supported in the MSI
programme by TNO from The
Netherlands who are acting as
subcontractors to SSTL
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