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In this November 3, 2020 photo, provided by the European Space Agency, the Sentinel-6 satellite is positioned inside the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket. The joint Europe-US satellite mission to improve measurements of rise in the sea level was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Saturday, November 22, 2020. Sentinel-6 satellite Michael Freilich, named after the late director of NASA’s Division of Earth Sciences, is seen as a crucial tool for monitoring the impact of global warming on the coasts, where billions of people are at risk of invading the oceans in the coming decades. (ESA / Stephane Corvaja via AP)
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In this November 3, 2020 photo, provided by the European Space Agency, the Sentinel-6 satellite is positioned inside the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket. The joint Europe-US satellite mission to improve level rise measurements del mare was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Saturday, November 22, 2020. Sentinel-6 satellite Michael Freilich, named after the late director of NASA’s Division of Earth Sciences, is seen as a crucial tool for monitoring the impact of global warming on the coasts, where billions of people are at risk of invading the oceans in the coming decades. (ESA / Stephane Corvaja via AP)
BERLIN (AP) – A “climate guardian” satellite set for launch this weekend will greatly help scientists track sea level rise, one of the most daunting effects of global warming, a senior official said on Friday. ‘European Space Agency.
The satellite, known as Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich and jointly developed by Europe and the United States, contains state-of-the-art instruments capable of capturing the height of the sea surface with unprecedented accuracy, adding to space measurements dating back nearly 30 years. does.
“This is an extremely important parameter for climate monitoring,” said Josef Aschbacher, Director of Earth Observation of the European Space Agency.
Billions of people living in coastal areas around the planet are at risk in the coming decades as melting polar ice and expanding oceans caused by warming push the waters higher and higher on the coast.
“We know that the sea level is rising”, saud Aschbacher. The big question is: how much, how fast.
Some studies estimates that the world’s oceans will increase by at least 2 feet (61 centimeters) by the end of the century, affecting low-lying regions from Bangladesh to Florida.
Aschbacher said measurements dating back to the 1990s show that mean sea level first rose by about 3 millimeters (0.12 inches) per year, but over the past two years the annual rate has been nearly 5 millimeters. 0.2 inch).
While measurements are also made at ground level, in ports and other coastal areas, they don’t provide the same precise uniform standard as a single satellite sweeping the entire globe every 10 days, he said.
“If you measure it at sea level, you have one measuring device in Amsterdam and a different one in Bangkok and another in Miami,” Aschbacher told The Associated Press via a video from ESA’s offices in Frascati, Italy. “But with a satellite, you can compare these measurements globally because it’s the same instrument that flies over all these areas.”
The probe’s most powerful weapon is the Poseidon-4 radar altimeter, named after the Greek god of the sea who wields the trident. The instrument measures how long it takes for radar signals to bounce off the sea surface and return to the satellite.
The new satellite will also collect measurements at a higher resolution than its predecessors, allowing researchers to take a closer look at small ocean features, especially along the coasts.
Other instruments on board will measure how radio signals travel through the atmosphere, providing data on atmospheric temperature and humidity that can help improve global weather forecasts.
The satellite is expected to be brought into orbit Saturday from Vandenberg Air Base in California aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. This week the European Space Agency complained about the loss of two satellites when a European-built booster rocket deviated from its course shortly. after launch.
“This failure on Monday it reminded us of how risky the space business is, ″ Aschbacher said. “We are always on the edge.”
Sentinel-6 is named after the late director of NASA’s Earth Sciences Division, Michael Freilich, an oceanographer who was instrumental in convincing the US space agency to join the mission.
“We owe him a lot and he more than deserves to have this satellite named after him,” Aschbacher said. “Personally, I’m very sorry that I can’t press the button tomorrow.”
Europe and the United States share the 900 million ($ 1.1 billion) cost of the 10-year mission, which includes the launch of an identical twin, currently called Sentinel-6B, in 2025.
It is the first time that another space agency has been involved in ESA’s flagship Copernicus program, which already has seven satellites in orbit measuring the seas, the atmosphere and the earth. Some data collected by ESA and other agencies have recently shown the impact of the coronavirus pandemic seen from space.
Aschbacher said he hopes NASA and ESA will also collaborate on future missions.
“NASA is our strongest partner internationally,” he said. “We are currently discussing other cooperation options based on the Sentinel 6-Michael Freilich model.”
The two space agencies recently agreed to cooperate on a planned NASA outpost around the moon.
But Aschbacher said lunar missions and others looking to Mars and beyond shouldn’t divert attention from the need to keep an eye on our planet.
“We all know that (the Earth) is undergoing enormous changes, extremely rapid changes and changes that we have never had before on this planet with a speed and intensity caused, of course, by humans,” he said. “And we need to understand how this planet works for our survival, for our future.”
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