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- The second European Remote Sensing Satellite ERS-2, launched on 20 April 1995, operates in a sun-synchronous, near-polar orbit at an altitude of 785 km and an inclination of 98.5 degrees ,known as the reference orbit. The mission consists of an only phase (phase A), using a 35 day repeat cycle, from 21 April 1995 to the present. ERS-2 is almost identical to the European Remote Sensing Satellite ERS-1 launched in 1991. ERS-2 is capable of measuring, on a global scale, the Earth's atmospheric and surface properties with a high degree of accuracy. In fact it uses advanced microwave techniques to collect global measurements and images (much of the data are collected from remote areas such as the southern oceans and the Antarctic) independent of time of day and weather conditions. It also undertakes the measurements of many parameters not covered by existing satellite systems, including those of sea state, sea surface winds, ocean circulation and sea and ice levels. ERS-2 carries on-board a number of instruments consisting of a core set of active microwave sensors supported by additional, complementary instruments: the Active Microwave Instrument (AMI), which combines a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) operating in image or wave mode and a wind scatterometer, the Radar Altimeter (RA), the Along-Track Scanning Radiometer and Microwave Sounder (ATSR-2), the Precise Range and Range-rate Equipment (PRARE), the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME), and Laser Retroreflectors (LRR). The primary objectives of the ERS-2 mission are the monitoring of the oceans and sea ice providing essential data for: - improved representation of oceans/atmosphere interactions in climatic models - major advances in the knowledge of ocean circulation and transfer of energy - more reliable estimates of the mass balance of the Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets - better monitoring of pollution and dynamic coastal processes - improved detection and management of land use change. The capability of ERS-2 to acquire vast global data sets of ocean, atmosphere, ice and land phenomena contributes to the following types of study and application: - Ocean/Ice: ocean circulation, global wind/wave relationships, sea ice and iceberg monitoring, etc. - Physical Earth: accurate determination of the ocean geoid, forestry, glaciology, geology and agriculture studies, etc. - Climate: contribution to the World Climate Research Programme and to the World Ocean Circulation Experiment - Weather and Sea: short and medium-term weather forecasting, sea surface State Forecasting wind speed and direction, location of pelagic fish through the monitoring of temperature fronts - Global Ozone: measures ozone, trace gases, and aerosols in the troposphere and stratosphere Group: Platform_Details Entry_ID: ERS-2 Group: Platform_Identification Platform_Category: Earth Observation Satellites Platform_Series_or_Entity: ERS Earth Resource Satellite Short_Name: ERS-2 Long_Name: European Remote Sensing Satellite-2 End_Group Group: Synonymous_Platform_Names Short_Name: ERS-2 End_Group Group: Platform_Associated_Instruments Short_Name: LRR Short_Name: GOME Short_Name: PRARE Short_Name: ATSR-2 Short_Name: RA Short_Name: SAR Short_Name: AMI End_Group Group: Orbit Orbit_Altitude: 785 km Orbit_Inclination: 98.5 deg Repeat_Cycle: 35 day End_Group Creation_Date: 2007-09-19 Online_Resource: http://earth.esa.int/ers/ Online_Resource: http://www.astronautix.com/craft/ers12.htm Sample_Image: http://southport.jpl.nasa.gov/polar/satgifs/ers1.gif Group: Platform_Logistics Launch_Date: 1995-04-21 Launch_Site: Kourou, French Guiana Primary_Sponsor: ESA End_Group End_Group
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