Sentinel-6: ‘Dog Kennel’ satellite to measure sea-level growth

The crucial satellite for understanding climate change will launch from California on Saturday.

Sentinel-6 Michael Freelich will be the primary means of measuring the shape of the world’s oceans.

Its data will not only track sea-level rise but also reveal how large bodies of water are moving around the world.

Seen somewhat like a dog kennel, the state-of-the-art 1.3-ton satellite will take off from Vandenberg base at 09:17 (17:17 GMT) local time.

Sentinel is available in Europe and the US. There is a joint effort between and will continue the steps taken by the succession of the spacecraft known as the Jason-Topex / Poseidon series going back to 1992.

The previous mission clarified that global sea levels have been rising at a rate of more than 3 mm per year for a period of 28 years. And their latest data also indicates that there is an accelerated work going on, with levels recorded at more than 4 mm per year.

Approximately half of the global sea-level measurements on Earth are made by temperature and thermal expansion, the main driver of which is global warming. The other half is melting ice.

One-third of the measured sea-level on Earth is caused by the expansion of water, the main atmosphere of which is climate change. The remaining ice is melting.

The Sentinel-6, like all its previous satellites, will use a radar altimeter to assess the altitude of the oceans.

This instrument sends a microwave pulse to the surface and then calculates the time it takes to receive the return signal, converting this into an elevation.

The Sentinel-6, however, will fly with much improved capacity, allowing it to see more clearly what the sea does against the coastal boundary; Rivers and lakes – how the underlying water features behave.

Elevation is a major parameter for oceanographers. Just as the surface air pressure displays what the environment is doing, so too will the details about the behavior of water below sea level rise.

Data give the key to temperature and salinity. When gravity is combined with information, it will also indicate current direction and motion.

The oceans store large amounts of heat from the sun; And how they move that energy energy around the world and interact with the atmosphere is what drives our climate system.

But it is important to keep the longest possible record of change.

European Space Agency mission scientist Craig Donlow explained, “As long as that time range is, we are more capable of isolating natural climate signals from compulsive people, human signals.”

“That means we can run behind the Climate Models Dello and then, through the validation process, we have confidence that we have a little bit of predictive skills when we run them forward.”

The oceans are not rising at the same rate everywhere. There are parts of the world where elevation is more than 1 cm per year.

This is due to many factors including changes in the circulation of the ocean, changes in the amount of heat and uneven dispersion of water dissolved from the ice sheet.

It is a well-known fact that discharges from mighty glaciers, such as the Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica, have the greatest effect on the height of the ocean at long distances.

Christine Gomminginger of the UK’s National Oceanography Center in Southampton told BBC News that sea-level rise is not the same; It is really important to recognize this.

“It’s now the regional sea-level budget that we’re targeting now. Global sea-level rise – nice, we know this. But that’s the local picture we want, and the ultimatum can give us this.”

Clearly, oceanographers are scientists and climate experts. But data is also important for weather forecasters.

The return signal is information about the condition of the ocean – how rough it is, which also speaks to the strength of the wind.

The connection between the sea and its atmosphere is best illustrated in a hurricane. These hurricanes derive their geta from tropical waters that can understand the altimeter by way of sea surface bulges.

And it’s the Sentinel-6-like satellites that propel the El Nino phenomenon, which warms hot water in the western Pacific to the east. This eliminates global numbness, redistribution of rain and bumping in temperature in weather systems.

“Other users include ship routers – they don’t want their vessels to go through the storm; they want to avoid big waves,” said Remako Sharru of the intergovernmental weather agency Umetset. “With the Sentinel-6 altimeter, we’ll also see the Addis at sea, and if you’re a ship router this information tells you how to go with the current, not the opposite.”

He goes on to say that the planning of marine and flood protection is based on elevation data. No new nuclear power plant can be built without realizing that high tides and storms could reach decades in the future.

The “Sentinel” moniker is the name given to all the satellites of the European Union’s Copernicus Earth-observation program, of which this mission is a part.

Its number shows that it is the sixth in a series of different sensor types planned for the network.

The name Michael Freelich is reminiscent of a former director of the US space agency NASA’s Department of Earth Sciences who died earlier this year. He was an oceanographer by background and was instrumental in bringing the international partnership behind this mission together.

“Mike Freelich exemplified the commitment to excellence, the generosity of spirit and the immaturity of the ability to inspire confidence that many people around the world want to work with NASA to advance big goals on behalf of the planet and its people.” , Who heads NASA’s Director of Science.

[email protected] and follow me on Twitter: BBCAmos