Agency, version?, Date 2012 Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Add CGMS agency logo here (in the slide master) Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Some Results from the ESA Earth Explorer Missions GOCE, CryoSat-2 and SMOS Presented to CGMS-41 Working Group II, agenda item 9

Agency, version?, Date 2012 Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Add CGMS agency logo here (in the slide master) Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Slide: 2 Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS ESA’S EARTH EXPLORER SATELLITES – HIGH-END SCIENCE RESEARCH MISSIONS GOCE 17 March 2009 EARTH CARE SWARM Fall th EE BIOMASS SMOS 2 Nov CryoSat-2 8 April th EE ADMAEOLUS

Agency, version?, Date 2012 Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Add CGMS agency logo here (in the slide master) Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Slide: 3 Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS  GOCE is a technology marvel: the first gradiometer in space at one of the lowest satellite orbits ever  GOCE’s geoid has been created using more than 50 million measurements of variations in gravitational attraction  Launched in March 2009, GOCE was due to complete its mission in April 2011  Initial GOCE orbit altitude was 256 km. It was reduced to 240 km, then 235 km, and since May 31 to 225 km. End of life is predicted in November  Mission goals have been reached and in some cases outperformed.  4 th generation gravity field model was released in March.  5 th release is expected around mid-2014 GOCE – The Gravity-field and Ocean steady-state Circulation Explorer

Agency, version?, Date 2012 Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Add CGMS agency logo here (in the slide master) GOCE: accurate ocean currents map Water Surface VelocityOcean Dynamic Topography  Using the GOCE independent geoid, for the first time, global currents can be extracted directly from satellite altimetry data. GOCE – ACCURATE MAPS OF OCEAN CURRENTS

Agency, version?, Date 2012 Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Add CGMS agency logo here (in the slide master) Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Slide: 5 Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS  Launched on November 2009, SMOS carries an L-band microwave interferometer aimed at measuring soil moisture and ocean surface salinity  The platform and payload are operating nominally: 99.8% of data availability  NRT light products are distributed through EUMETSAT’s EUMETCast system since 14 February. Current users: NOAA/NESDIS, CMC Canada and US Navy  RFI situation continues to improve  Performance goals (4% volumetric soil moisture, <1 psu) are within reach SMOS – Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity First merged global maps of soil moisture (August 2011) and sea surface salinity (August 2010), morning orbits. © CESBIO, IFREMER, CATDS

Agency, version?, Date 2012 Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Add CGMS agency logo here (in the slide master) Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Slide: 6 Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS  Estimates of surface wind speeds (km/hr) from SMOS data along the track of Hurricane Sandy  Spanning 1800 km, this super storm is the largest Atlantic hurricane on record, devastating parts of the Caribbean and northeastern US in October  ESA’s SMOS microwave radiometer (L-band) provided reliable estimates of surface wind speeds in this intense storm. SMOS, A VERSATILE MISSION – HURRYCANE SANDY Aircraft and SMOS wind speeds showed excellent agreement

Agency, version?, Date 2012 Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Add CGMS agency logo here (in the slide master) Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Slide: 7 Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS  Mixed with altimetry data SMOS salinity observations allow to monitor the interaction between warm, salty water carried north by the Gulf Stream and the colder, less-salty waters transported southward by the Labrador Current SMOS, A VERSATILE MISSION – GULF STREAM STUDIES

Agency, version?, Date 2012 Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Add CGMS agency logo here (in the slide master) Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS SMOS February 2011SMOS February 2012 Credit: CESBIO  2011 Drought in Europe: severe lack of water due to less than average rainfall SMOS, A VERSATILE MISSION –EUROPEAN DROUGHTS AND FLOODS  2013 Floods in Europe: record levels of soil moisture after wet spring and heavy rainfalls

Agency, version?, Date 2012 Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Add CGMS agency logo here (in the slide master) Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Slide: 9 Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS  Primary Mission Goals:  Determination of regional and basin- scale trends in perennial Arctic sea ice thickness and mass  Determination of regional and total contributions to global sea-level of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets  First-ever map of Arctic sea ice thickness released in June 2011 CRYOSAT-2 – POLAR ICE MONITORING

Agency, version?, Date 2012 Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Add CGMS agency logo here (in the slide master) Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Slide: 10 Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS  CryoSat data confirm the ICESat observation that the decline in sea ice coverage in the polar region has been accompanied by a substantial decline in ice volume. CRYOSAT-2 – MAJOR LOSSES OF ARCTIC ICE THICKNESS

Agency, version?, Date 2012 Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Add CGMS agency logo here (in the slide master) Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS Slide: 11 Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites - CGMS  Though ESA’s Earth Explorers are developed to address specific scientific issues, the results shown in this short presentation demonstrate their versatility and usefulness for other purposes, including meteorological and climate applications  Thank you for your attention! CONCLUSIONS