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The US space agency, NASA, in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA), will launch a satellite designed to monitor sea level rise on Saturday, the latest in a series of orbiting spacecraft monitoring the state. of the world’s oceans.
NASA says the launch of the satellite, called Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California early Saturday. Named after former NASA Earth Science Division director Michael Freilich, the US-Europe satellite will be flown into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The Sentinel-6 is the size of a small pickup truck and will measure sea surface height, wave height and wind speed, allowing scientists to monitor sea level changes caused by climate change.
The data it collects on sea level changes near coasts will provide information to support coastal management and flood planning, while its atmospheric measurements will improve weather and hurricane forecasts.
NASA Sentinel 6 mission scientist Craig Donlon says the data collected by the spacecraft will be used together with information provided by previous Sentinel satellites to build a more complete picture of the oceans.
“Sentinel-3 provides measurements of sea surface temperature and ocean biology. Sentinel-1 provides radar image measurements of ocean waves, sea ice. Sentinel-2 provides high-resolution measurements in the coastal zone,” said Donlon .
Unlike previous Earth observation missions, the Sentinel-6 observatory will collect measurements at a much higher resolution and be able to measure smaller changes in sea level near the coast.
The satellite will be followed in 2025 by its twin Sentinel-6B. Together, the pair are tasked with extending a nearly 30-year record of global sea surface height measurements.
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