25

ERS

The ERS mission continued into its ninth year, ERS-1 having been launched

in July 1991. The resulting series of continuous high-quality observations is

providing the foundation for an extremely valuable data archive that will be

continued by Envisat and Metop. The wide operational usage of ERS data

products is also continuing.

The ERS system operations continued very smoothly with exc e l l e n t

performances from both the operational satellite (ERS-2) and the ground

segment. The ERS-1 payload was reactivated from hibernation periodically

and was regularly used for SAR interferometry, with the acquisition of one

or two image pairs per day.

Due to concerns about the future health of ERS-2’s gyroscopes, a new

attitude and orbit control system was developed to be able to maintain

satellite-pointing performance using a single gyroscope instead of three.

This will be implemented at the beginning of 2000 to extend the operational life of the gyro

set. The current performance of the two satellites promises continuity of the full mission until

Envisat becomes operational, and operational availability of the wind data until the Metop-1

launch.

As in 1998, special measures were taken to protect the most sensitive elements of the

spacecraft from the Leonid meteor stream. Despite the high intensity of the stream in 1999,

no anomalies were detected during or after the encounter.

Finally, the entire ERS System was upgraded and successfully end-to-end tested for Y2K

compliance. No anomalies were detected at the turn of the year.

Envisat and the Polar Platform

Planned for launch in mid-2001 into a Sun-synchronous orbit with a ground

track identical to the ERS-2 mission, Envisat is designed for at least five

years of in-orbit operation. It will provide continuous global observations as

well as regional high- and medium-resolution radar and optical images from

its Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) and Medium-Resolution

Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS).

During 1999, significant progress was made towards the final build-up of

the flight-model (FM) satellite. Further FM instruments or instrument

assemblies were successfully integrated on the satellite during the year. In

June, the FM Payload Module, accompanied by an impressive array of

Electrical and Mechanical Ground Support Equipment (EGSE and MGSE) was

shipped to ESTEC for thermal-balance/thermal-vacuum tests in the Large

Space Simulator (LSS). The FM Service Module arrived at ESTEC shortly after

the Payload Module. The thermal tests were completed with just a few

minor problems, and by year’s end the satellite was being prepared for

further functional and environmental testing.

The MERIS and MIPAS flight models were successfully acceptance-tested

and delivered for integration before the end of the year. The ASAR and

Sciamachy flight-model electronic units were delivered and integrated on

the flight-model satellite, and their acceptance testing should be completed

in early-2000.

Earth Observation

The Envisat Payload Module in the

Large Space Simulator (LSS) at ESTEC

(NL)

The ASAR flight-model antenna

d e p l o yed for beam testing (photo

courtesy of Matra Marconi Space)

Mid-April saw the completion of the satellite engineering-model activities, and the Envisat

Satellite Qualification Review (ESQR) was successfully performed by mid-year.

The Payload Data Segment (PDS) facilities were deployed at the Kiruna (S) and ESRIN (I) sites

in preparation for formal PDS acceptance testing. The Implementation Review for the Flight

Operations Segment (FOS) has been successfully concluded.

System activities focussed on the completeness of the system verifications before launch,

including initialisation of the Ground Segment Overall Verification (GSOV), and the setting-up

of the calibration/validation teams that will support the satellite’s in-orbit commissioning.

More than 700 proposals received in response to an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for

scientific data exploitation and pilot projects were evaluated, and approximately 93% of

them were found to be acceptable.

Metop

The Metop Programme saw a number of important

milestones acheived in 1999. The first was the System

P reliminary Design Review (PDR), building on a

succession of lower level reviews from equipment level

upwards, and including the Payload Module PDR and

the Service Module Hard wa re Design Rev i e w. This

series of reviews were successfully concluded with a

remarkably small number of issues remaining to be

re s o l ved in the course of the subsequent ro u t i n e

project activities.

Development of the Payload Module unit engineering

models proceeded in parallel with the fabrication of the

Structural Model structure (to be refurbished later as a

flight structure for a recurrent Metop spacecraft). Towards the end of the year, the first of the

C u s tomer Furnished Instruments, from the suite of re c u r rent instruments from the

NOAA/NASA POES programme (TIROS), were delivered to the Payload Module integrator,

DaimlerChrysler Aerospace, for advance integration activities.

With engineering-model unit development being completed, by year’s end Critical Design

Reviews (CDRs) at equipment level were getting underway.

The choice of the GOME-2 instrument for the entire Metop series was finally confirmed, and

its development is proceeding in parallel with the main Metop development (GOME-2 being

the subject of a separate contract with Officine Galileo). A successful PDR was held and

production of the engineering-model instrument is well underway.

All other space-segment elements, such as prototypes of the data-processing facilities needed

to take the instrument data up to Level-1b (calibrated data in engineering units), were

established and work is underway.

With the lifting of the remaining ad-referendum votes to the Eumetsat Polar System (EPS)

programme, the last step in establishing the legal basis for Metop could be attained, with the

finalisation and signature of the Cooperation Agreement between ESA and Eumetsat.

During the year, the contractual basis for both Metop and GOME-2 was fully established and

all open areas removed from the contractual baseline documentation. This allowed the Metop

26

Artist’s impression of the Metop space -

craft

contract to be signed at the end of the year by ESA, Eumetsat and Matra Marconi Space. Plans

to sign the GOME-2 contract in early 2000 were confirmed.

In parallel with the development of the space segment under the responsibility of the ESA-led

single space segment team, Eumetsat was able to finalise the Ground Segment Requirements

and issue the corresponding Invitation to Tender, at the end of August. A few remaining

elements (e.g. selection of the primary data downlink, command and control

ground station and provision of Launch and Early Orbit Phase services)

remain to be closed out, but the core ground-segment activities should be

fully kicked off in mid-2000.

Meteosat Second Generation

The MSG programme’s main development phase (Phase-C/D) has been

underway for four years and remains on schedule. The major milestones in

1999 were the delivery of the Optical Instrument engineering and protoflight

models, as well as the Mission Communication Subsystems engineering and

flight models. This allowed the satellite engineering model to be fully

i n t e g rated and almost fully tested, while the flight model was being

integrated in parallel.

The ESA MSG-1 development model, due to be launched in 2000, will be

followed in 2002 by MSG-2, which will serve as its in-orbit standby. The MSG

spacecraft development and manufacturing programme will continue until

2003, when MSG-3 will be placed in ground storage for a nominal period of

five years. This scenario, in combination with the Meteosat-7 first-generation

s p a c e c raft launched in 1997, will enable Eumetsat to guarantee an

uninterrupted operational geostationary imaging and data-dissemination

service until at least 2012, since each of the new spacecraft has a seven-year

design lifetime.

Eumetsat is financing approximately one third of the MSG-1 development programme and

fully finances the recurrent MSG-2 and MSG-3 models, which are procured from industry by

ESA on Eumetsat’s behalf.

Earth Observation Science

Primary responsibility for the new Living Planet Earth Observation Programme passed in

1999 from the Scientific to the Applications Programme Directorate. The principle that

fundamental scientific research is necessary not only to understand the evolution of our

planet, but also to develop new applications, underpins the new programme. The research-

driven Earth Explorer ‘Living Planet’ missions will be the dynamo of the programme, which

will be implemented against an evolving long-term scientific plan, using an innovative

envelope funding approach approved at the Ministerial Council in Brussels in May.

Radical changes of approach and philosophy in the Agency are being implemented in the

new programme. The science community has a new responsibility in the make-up of the

programme through a new advisory structure headed by the Earth Sciences Advisory

Committee (ESAC). The results of the Phase-A studies for four potential Earth Explorer Core

Missions were presented to the European and Canadian community at an open meeting in

Granada (E) in October. Subsequently, the ESAC recommended to the Programme Board the

implementation of two: GOCE (the Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Mission)

and ADM (the Atmospheric Dynamics Mission). Previously, in May, two Opportunity missions

27

Simulation liquid loading of the MSG-1

flight model for mechanical testing

(photo courtesy of Alcatel)

had been recommended to the Earth-Observation Programme Board by the ESAC: Cryosat (a

polar-ice monitoring mission) and SMOS (a Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission). The

latter mark a new approach in ESA to the implementation of small missions for Earth

Observation and to a closer integration of scientists in the development activities.

All of the new science missions have a strong relation to potential applications. In this respect

they illustrate well the rationale for the earth-science element in the development chain:

Science – Applications – Demonstration – Services. Basic knowledge gained

from science will lead to the identification of new applications, which

through demonstration will in the longer term feed through to services,

thereby promoting the development of applications and of the market as a

whole.

The programme will seek increased efficiency in many ways. A user-driven

approach emphasises smaller more focussed missions and close interaction

between scientists in the specification of the mission and its development.

A new instrument technology development line will

p romote risk reduction in implementation. The

envelope funding approach itself encourages internal

c o s t - e f f i c i e n c y, but also makes it much more

s t ra i g h t fo r wa rd to embark on international

cooperation.

The new Living Planet Programme directly fosters the

development of new applications in two important

ways, in addition to the long-term deve l o p m e n t

envisaged as underlying the whole programme. Firstly,

the new instrument technology development line will

be used to foster applications as well as science, and

secondly the new envelope funding contains an

element for development of the downstream market.

Collaboration with other major agencies is much easier

to plan with the new envelope funding approach. Japan (NASDA) has

indicated a willingness to collaborate on a radiation and cloud mission in

the coming decade, and several other smaller cooperations are also being

considered. A joint working group to consider cooperation in global-

change research has been formed with the Japanese. A working group to

identify the potential for harmonising selection processes and potential

missions for implementation with NASA has also been formed, following

an agreement reached between the ESA Director General and the NASA

Administrator in the summer.

Responsibility for implementation of the Living Planet Programme now rests firmly within the

Applications Directorate, but the experience of the Science Programme and the involvement

of the Science Directorate’s staff in its inception have proved very beneficial, serving as a

good example of synergy between programmes in the Agency.

Earth Observation Applications

The Earth Observation Applications Department was reorganised in 1999 to be able to

respond better to ESA’s new role in the application of space technologies. A new Division was

formed to administer Earth Observation exploitation development and application projects

and to set up and implement an ESA EO Promotion Plan. Responsibility for mission

28

The four candidate Earth Explorer Cor e

Mission Reports presented for selection

in Granada (E) in October

management was transferred to the Applications Department and a project-management

structure for ERS mission exploitation was set up. A project for the ISO 9001 qualification of

the Applications Department was initiated in December.

On the development and operational front:

– At year’s end, ERS-2 was still

providing the operational services,

with ERS-1 maintained as backup.

Both satellites were still in excellent

technical condition and responding

to user requests for scheduled data

acquisitions. User services and data

distribution to both the scientific and

c o m m e rcial user communities we re

continuing.

– Following the approval of a new ERS data

policy aligned with the Envisat data

p o l i c y, the contract pro c e d u re fo r

appointing ERS and Envisat Distributing

Entities for at least the coming four years was initiated (these Distributing Entities are

expected to begin offering their services in Spring 2000).

– The ground segment and the operations were enhanced through international cooperation

and presence, with the installation and successful operation of ERS compact stations in

India, Ecuador, China, Kenya and Russia, as well as through wide participation in

conferences, workshops and training activities.

– Envisat Payload Data Segment (PDS) integration was completed, with all centres (ESRIN,

Kiruna and Fucino) having their final configurations. The PDS Version 2 was fully tested,

including co-ordinated cross-centre operations.

– Delegations at DOSTAG reviewed and unanimously recommended the continuation of the

Earthnet Programme after 2001.

– Landsat-7 ground-segment development was completed and operations started at the

Earthnet stations at Fucino, Kiruna, Neustrelitz and Maspalomas under ESRIN supervision.

– User Support: Some 1400 ERS science and application Announcement of Opportunity (AO)

projects were supported in 1999. The procedure for monitoring and presentation of these

proposals was improved to ensure closer and more effective interaction with and between

Principal Investigators and to prepare technical recommendations. An ESA correspondent

was assigned to each proposal and a Web site was set up to give the Principal Investigators

the opportunity to publicise their project’s achievements. Evaluation of the proposals

received in response to the first Envisat AO, released at the end of 1997, was completed

with the acceptance of 674 new projects, several of which have already begun working

with ERS data. The Department participated, in cooperation with industry and national

authorities, in many conferences related to the monitoring of cata s t rophic eve n t s ,

management of re s o u rces, mapping, agriculture, etc. Following the Space Charter

Announcement on Risk Management at Unispace III, ESA made well-defined sets of ERS

SAR data over Turkey available, via ESRIN, to experts groups working on the surface-

deformation map after the earthquake. In view of the forthcoming launch of the Meteosat

Second Generation (MSG) in 2000, ESA and Eumetsat organised a call for innovative

projects to tackle research in various Earth-sciences fields based on the use of MSG data.

– Events: During 1999, ESRIN was involved in organising: the ESA Earth Observation Supply

Chain Workshop in Frascati (I), the International Workshop on Applications of the ERS

Along-Track Scanning Radiometer, the CEOS SAR Workshop in Toulouse (F), the Second

International Workshop on ERS SAR Interferometry – FRINGE ’99, in Liege (B), and the DUP

and ERSIS Workshops in Frascati. ESRIN also contributed during the year to various

external international workshops and meetings: the Eurogoos Conference, the 19th Earsel

Symposium, IGARSS ’99, the 50th IAF Congress, Unispace III, and the Le Bourget Air Show.

29

Interferometric fringes computed from

an ERS-1/ERS-2 data pair acquire d

b e fo re and after the Turkish earth -

q u a ke, superimposed on a La n d s a t

Thematic Mapper image. Urban areas

appear in red/magenta. The intensity

of the ground deformation is propor -

tional to the fringe density. This image

product therefore enabled a first assess -

ment of damage, even for remote areas

Earth Observation Future Projects

1999 saw significant developments in Earth Observation. Following the agreement at the

Ministerial Council in Brussels in May to initiate the Earth Observation Envelope Programme

(EOEP), the way was clear to launch the Living Planet Programme and thus to implement a

new way of working; specifically to pursue a user-driven, rather than a technology-led,

programme. This was a clear signal of the maturing technology capabilities of European

Industry, as well as the strong development of the European User Community.

The Ministerial Council decision allowed the first three years of new commitments for the

Envelope Programme to be made. All ESA Member States except Ireland, but including

Canada, have subscribed to this first three-year phase. The programme contains a number of

activities grouped into two major components, namely Earth Explorer missions and

Development and Exploitation activities. The first component covers so-called ‘Core’ and

‘Opportunity’ Earth Explorer missions. The Development and Exploitation component

p resently cove rs instrument pre - d evelopment, mission exploitation and marke t

development, ERS-1 and 2 operations continuity, and certain elements of the Earthnet

programme. It is planned to also cover Earth Observation Preparatory Activities and Earth

Watch Definition Studies in the future.

The first Earth Explorer Opportunity Missions to be implemented were selected in May,

following an Announcement of Opportunity. Two missions are planned in the first slice:

Cryosat, a mission to quantitatively study polar ice cover, and SMOS, a mission intended to

measure soil moisture and ocean salinity. A third mission, called ACE, is being held on

standby in case difficulties are encountered with either of the first two.

In October the first Earth Explorer Core Missions were agreed, following an extensive period

of study and consultation with the Earth Science community. The first is GOCE, a mission to

measure the Earth’s gravity field and its spatial variability accurately. This will be fully

implemented in the current slice of the EO Envelope Programme. The second mission will

provide the first global observations of atmospheric winds in three dimensions. Current

funding will cover pre-development of the primary instrument, a Doppler Lidar, and Phase-B

of the mission implementation.

The important decisions taken in 1999 have set

the scene for a long-term European commitment

to a better unders tanding of our planeta r y

environment. The next, parallel challenge will be

to establish an Earth Watch Programme for

applications.

30

The Living Planet Programme proposal

p resented at the ESA Ministerial

Council in May