Future satellite missions
NERC funds the UK contribution to the European Space Agency's Earth Explorer missions.
These missions are designed to address critical and specific issues raised by the science community. By involving the science community right from the beginning of the mission the space agency can give the exact data required by scientists to do their work.
SMOS - launch date 2009
SMOS (Soil Moisture & Ocean Salinity) will provide global maps of soil moisture
and ocean salinity to increase knowledge of the Earth's water cycle and contribute
to climate, weather and extreme event forecasting.
CryoSat II - launch date 2009
CryoSat II, proposed by the director of NERC's Centre for Polar Observation & Modelling (CPOM), will determine variations in the thickness of the Earth's continental ice sheets and marine ice cover. Its primary objective was to test and quantify the prediction of diminishing polar ice due to global warming. The first CryoSat was destroyed shortly after take off in October 2005.
Swarm - launch date 2010
Swarm is a constellation of three satellites to study the dynamics of the magnetic field to gain new insights into the Earth system by improving our understanding of the Earth's interior and climate.
ADM-Aeolus - launch date 2011
ADM-Aeolus (Atmospheric Dynamics Mission) will advance global wind profile
observations and will provide much needed information to improve weather forecasting.
ADM-Aeolus is seen as a mission that will pave the way for future operational
meteorological satellites dedicated to measuring the Earth's wind fields.
EarthCARE - launch date 2013
EarthCARE (Earth Clouds Aerosols & Radiation Explorer) is a joint European-Japanese
mission that aims to improve the representation and understanding of the Earth's
radiative balance in climate and numerical weather forecast models.
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