GMES

Global Monitoring for Environment and Security

The GMES program was created in 2001 by ESA (European Space Agency) and the European Commission. This program was created in support of the European environmental policies. The goals are to manage the environment and to ensure civil security in a better way, by observations from satellites placed in orbit by ESA.

In 2008, during the transition to the operational phase, the GMES program was renamed COPERNICUS.

The program is based on four basic segments:

• spatial component (satellites and associated ground infrastructure);

• in situ measurements (air and ground measures);

• standardization of data;

• services for users.

For this program, ESA has developed a family of missions called Sentinels; each Sentinel mission is based on a constellation of two satellites.

These missions are equipped with instruments made with very advanced technology, first of all a radar for monitoring the Earth's atmosphere and surface. One of the possible services offered by Sentinels missions is the marine monitoring trough suitable techniques for:

• monitoring oil spills from ships;

• detecting the position of ships for maritime security;

• monitoring the extension of Arctic ice.

The first mission of the series is Sentinel-1; the orbit of the satellites belonging to this mission is a polar orbit and the mission has been developed to provide ground and sea services. The first satellite of the mission "Sentinel-1A" was launched on 3^th April 2014, the second satellite "Sentinel-1B" has been launched on 25^th April 2016. Both satellites were brought into orbit on a Soyuz rocket from Europe's Spaceport, in French Guyana.

In the context of the services offered by Sentinel-1, in applications related to the Earth, the radar images of the satellites are used to:

• monitor soil movements caused by earthquakes;

• monitor changes in the soil caused by landslides and volcanic eruptions;

• make maps for the management of forests, water and territory, in support of humanitarian aid in difficult situations.

Sentinel-4 (Credits: ESA-P.Carril).

For more detailed informations on the COPERNICUS MISSION (including future developments) and on the SENTINEL SATELLITES, please visit ESA portal: click HERE