Shaun Quegan, University of Sheffield – IONOSAR Project
From 2013 onwards, a series of sensors called Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometers (SLSTRs) will be operational on European satellites. They will have unique capabilities for long—term observation of the earth’s surface and atmosphere obtaining information on land surface temperature, occurrence and intensity of fire, surface reflectance and amount of smoke and mineral dust in the atmosphere. Current techniques provide an inadequate ‘classification’ as to whether there is smoke, other aerosols or clouds present, compromising accuracy. The NCEO Mission Support research proposes to find a better solution for this classification problem by developing a multi-way Bayesian classifier of clear-cloud-aerosol conditions. This is important because of the significance of these parameters in the climate system, particularly to earth’s radiative balance and carbon cycle.
Brian Kerridge, STFC – PREMIER Mission Support
The project aims to develop and design a new spaceborne multi-spectral canopy lidar (speCL) satellite mission. In anticipation of future mission opportunities, there is an imminent need for determining the feasibility and technical readiness of a spaceborne MSCL. The primary objective is to determine the global distribution of above ground biomass in the world’s forests and to reduce uncertainties in the calculation of terrestrial carbon stocks and fluxes. The regular monitoring and assessment of land cover change is essential to understand the extent and impact of natural and anthropogenic changes.
Richard Holme, University of Liverpool – Calibration and Cleaning of Magnetic Satellite Data
The Earth’s geomagnetic field can provide us with a large amount of information about various parts of the Earth – the evolution of Earth’s core, the structure of the crust and global tectonics history, as well as the motion of the oceans. It can also provide information for navigation, industrial applications and resource exploration. The most sophisticated mathematical models of the geomagnetic field will be built using data from low-earth orbiting satellites. A new ESA satellite mission called SWARM consists of three satellites flying in a particular configuration to provide information about the magnetic field. External sources also contribute to the signal and this ‘noise’ must be dealt with when modelling the internal field of the earth. This project will develop new algorithms to account for the ‘noise’ in order to produce more accurate and higher resolution models of the geomagnetic field.
Phil Moore, Newcastle University - Regional Gravity Fields from GOCE and GRACE
The launch of GRACE and GOCE field missions are changing our knowledge of the geoid over the oceans and land. The GRACE satellite measures the distance between two satellites ~220km apart which is affected by variations in the Earth’s gravitational pull which allows the earth’s gravity field to be determined. GOCE records the difference in gravity between a 3D array of point masses which provides the rate of change of gravity, a process known as gradiometry. This study aims to merge the two data sets to produce a better overall solution. This highly accurate geoid will enable oceanographers to measure absolute ocean currents and eddies. This is important as the oceans are the largest heat transport mechanism and knowledge of the transport processes and heat fluxes are fundamental to our understanding of global climate change.
Robin Hogan, University of Reading, Synergy Algorithms for EarthCARE
Of great importance in numerical climate modelling is the need to test and improve the representation of clouds, precipitation and aerosols by using detailed observations. In 2013, the EarthCARE satellite, carrying a radar, lidar and narrow- and broad band radiometers, will address this issue. When these instruments are used synchronously, much more accurate and comprehensive estimates of cloud properties are possible. The NCEO Mission Support project aims to obtain the best possible estimate of atmospheric properties and provide the necessary information to test models. This will place the UK at the forefront of spaceborne radar and lidar research.
Paul Palmer, University of Edinburgh – Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT)
A better quantitative understanding of the controls on biospheric continental CO2 fluxes is essential to reduce uncertainty in the human contribution to climate. There is a sparseness of in situ data. Satellite observations of CO2, representative of regional scales, are now available from the GOSAT. Previous work developed an efficient processing tool to infer CO2 sources and sinks from the satellite data. The new NCEO Mission Support project aims to assess the tool by extensive ground-truthing linked to computer simulations. Once confidence in the simulations and data has been developed, the processing tool will be used to calculate some of the first CO2 flux maps inferred from satellite data.
Malcolm Dunlop, STFC – SWARM Data Calibration and Validation
In 2010, ESA is due to launch the three-satellite mission SWARM, as part of the Earth Explorer programme. The satellites are specifically designed to study all contributions to the near-earth magnetic field and the externally influenced fields. SWARM differs from previous low orbit missions as its measurements are able to capture and distinguish the time-variability of the geomagnetic field. A key aim of SWARM is to survey the geomagnetic field and to distinguish the various dynamic sources contributing to the mechanisms of energy transfer in the earth’s environment. ESA plans to present no-cost AOs for guest investigators to validate SWARM data products. Extensive calibration and validation studies can be performed to qualify and exploit the dataset through and beyond the mission operations.
John Harries, Imperial College London, Feasibility and Sensitivity Studies for CLARREO
It is possible to determine the current state of the climate by making measurements of the relative amounts of energy at different wavelengths using a spectrometer. By measuring these spectral signatures at different times and comparing them, it is possible to understand how the climate has changed over that time period. The new CLARREO mission will sample the entire earth with sufficient accuracy for the measurements to be used as a rigorous test of the ability of climate models to represent the current climate and therefore better predict future changes. Studies within the NCEO Mission Support project will enable advice to be given to NASA regarding the composition of the mission, the spectral resolution of the measurements and the accuracy required.
CJ Merchant, University of Edinburgh – Sentinel 3: Pre-mission development of Clear-Cloud-Aerosol Classification
From 2013 onwards, a series of sensors called Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometers (SLSTRs) will be operational on European satellites. They will have unique capabilities for long—term observation of the earth’s surface and atmosphere obtaining information on land surface temperature, occurrence and intensity of fire, surface reflectance and amount of smoke and mineral dust in the atmosphere. Current techniques provide an inadequate ‘classification’ as to whether there is smoke, other aerosols or clouds present, compromising accuracy. The NCEO Mission Support research proposes to find a better solution for this classification problem by developing a multi-way Bayesian classifier of clear-cloud-aerosol conditions. This is important because of the significance of these parameters in the climate system, particularly to earth’s radiative balance and carbon cycle.
Ian Woodhouse, University of Edinburgh – A Spaceborne Multispectral Canopy Lidar
The project aims to develop and design a new spaceborne multi-spectral canopy lidar (speCL) satellite mission. In anticipation of future mission opportunities, there is an imminent need for determining the feasibility and technical readiness of a spaceborne MSCL. The primary objective is to determine the global distribution of above ground biomass in the world’s forests and to reduce uncertainties in the calculation of terrestrial carbon stocks and fluxes. The regular monitoring and assessment of land cover change is essential to understand the extent and impact of natural and anthropogenic changes.
Martin Wooster, Kings College London – Pre-Launch Development of Sentinel-3 SLSTR Active Fire Product
The Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) is a new ESA instrument flying on the Sentinel-3 satellites from 2013-2025. SLSTR has been designed specifically to make high quality observations of the ocean, atmosphere and land including actively burning fires. Active Fire information is required for supporting consistent global monitoring of land change dynamics and their impacts on climate. The NCEO Mission Support project aims to develop, evaluate and test the series of algorithms necessary to deliver optimised, high quality data including fire location, time and fire radiative power output. From this, rates of vegetation fuel consumption, carbon, trace gas and aerosol release can be calculated for use in both science applications and operational services.
Christine Gommenginger – Assessing the Impact of SMOS Ocean Salinity Data on Operational Ocean Forecasting
The ESA Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite mission aims to deliver global maps of sea surface salinity (SSS) for the first time, helping to improve our understanding of the water cycle and advance weather and climate studies. This project will investigate, define and implement the optimal methodology to perform multi-pass averaging to improve the accuracy of the SMOS SSS measurements and provide quantitative error estimates. These new datasets will be made available online to science and operational users.
