ESA Earth Explorer 10 Harmony
ESA has recently adopted the Harmony satellite mission to be the 10th ESA Earth Explorer (EE): https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/ESA_selects_Harmony_as_tenth_Earth_Explorer_mission
The Harmony satellite mission consists of two new satellites. The two satellites work directly together with a third satellite from the EU Copernicus Sentinel-1 series. The combined satellite instruments are very versatile and show in unprecedented detail glaciers, volcanoes, ice caps, and over sea wind, waves, currents and temperature. Furthermore, and relevant for the IWWG, it is the first satellite mission to measure small-scale cloud dynamics globally in conjunction with the other small-scale measurements. Because of this versatile connection of satellites and geophysical variables to be measured, the name of the mission was chosen: Harmony.
3D cloud position and motion information will bee obtained by a thermal infrared (TIR) Imager collecting fore, side and aft measurements for five views. The two satellites are placed in orbit, such that 3 of the 5 views are simultaneous. The total of 10 views by the 2 instruments, both simultaneous and non-simultaneous span about 5 minutes at any location and will be used to reconstruct 3D cloud boundaries and their motion. The km-scale information is thought to be useful for studies of cloud dynamics and may be helpful for an improved understanding of AMVs. The TIR tandem instrument concept and objectives will be further elaborated at the IWW16.
Harmony will contribute to many international initiatives to record the behavior of the Earth as a whole in detail through its detailed measurements of all mentioned geophysical variables. The interaction between ocean and ice surfaces and the atmosphere over more than 70% of the earth’s surface is a particularly relevant research area in which Harmony will contribute to improving this dynamic interaction and the associated exchange of gases (including CO2 and moisture) and heat.
The ESA Earth Explorer (EE) program provides all ESA research satellites for Earth observation. The European academia and the ESA member states advise on successive EE satellite missions and it has now been established that Harmony will be the 10th EE mission.
After the design phase, construction of the satellites and instrumentation will begin for a planned launch in 2029.
