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