Sentinel-5P

Sentinel-5P
Name	Sentinel-5P
Mission type	Earth observation
Operator	European Space Agency
Mission duration	7 years (design)
Launch date	13 October 2017
Launch vehicle	Vega
Launch site	Guiana Space Centre
Spacecraft bus	PROBA platform
Manufacturer	Airbus Defence and Space
Orbit type	Sun-synchronous
Orbit altitude	~824 km
Instruments	TROPOMI

Sentinel-5P Sentinel-5P is a European Earth observation satellite focused on atmospheric composition, developed under the Copernicus Programme by the European Space Agency and the European Commission. Launched by Arianespace aboard a Vega launcher from the Guiana Space Centre in October 2017, it carries the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) built by Airbus Defence and Space and Ruag Space. The mission provides near-real-time data for air quality, climate monitoring, and chemical transport studies supporting agencies such as the European Environmental Agency and the World Meteorological Organization.

Overview

Sentinel-5P operates in a sun-synchronous orbit optimized for daily global coverage, complementing the Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, Sentinel-3, and Sentinel-4 missions within the Copernicus Programme. Its compact platform draws heritage from the Proba small satellite series and the satellite bus technology developed by Airbus Defence and Space and Ruag Space. The mission addresses atmospheric constituents including nitrogen dioxide, ozone, formaldehyde, sulfur dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide, and aerosols, supporting stakeholders such as the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, NASA, and national space agencies like the UK Space Agency and the CNES.

Mission and Objectives

The primary objective is operational monitoring of atmospheric trace gases and aerosols to improve air quality services offered by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service and to inform policy instruments such as the Air Quality Directive 2008/50/EC and the Paris Agreement. Secondary objectives include providing data for climate research pursued by institutions like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and assimilation into numerical models run by the Met Office, DWD, and the NOAA. The mission was conceived in coordination with programs such as GEMS, GEO, and the Global Climate Observing System, with industrial partners including SRON and KNMI contributing science expertise.

TROPOMI Instrument

TROPOMI is a hyperspectral imaging spectrometer covering ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared, and shortwave infrared bands, employing push-broom scanning and high spectral resolution techniques pioneered in instruments like OMI and SCIAMACHY. Designed by a consortium including TNO, SRON, KNMI, and Airbus Defence and Space, TROPOMI features a wide swath and spatial resolution that enabled breakthroughs similar to those from the GOME family. The instrument uses CCD and detector technologies comparable to sensors on Envisat and leverages calibration concepts developed for missions such as ERS-2 and MetOp.

Operations and Data Products

Operations are coordinated from control centers involving the European Space Operations Centre, mission planning teams from ESA, and data processing by the European Space Agency ground segment and the Copernicus Services. TROPOMI delivers level-1 radiances and level-2 geophysical products including total column and tropospheric columns of trace gases, aerosol index, and cloud properties; these products serve users ranging from the European Commission to research groups at ETH Zurich, Imperial College London, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The data formats and access follow conventions similar to those used by NASA EOSDIS, EUMETSAT, and the CEOS data heritage, facilitating integration with datasets from MODIS, VIIRS, GOME-2, and IASI.

Calibration and Validation

A comprehensive calibration and validation program involves in-orbit calibration techniques and ground-based networks including NDACC, AERONET, and regional lidar and DOAS campaigns run by institutions like KNMI, University of Bremen, RIVM, and NIWA. Validation activities leverage comparisons with measurements from aircraft campaigns such as IAGOS and MOZAIC and field experiments coordinated by ICOS, ACTRIS, and ESA projects. Cross-validation with satellite missions including OMI, GOME-2, SCIAMACHY, and TROPOMI (DO NOT LINK)-heritage instruments ensures continuity in time series used by IPCC and atmospheric chemistry modeling teams at NCAR and MPI-M.

Applications and Impact

Sentinel-5P data have been applied to urban air quality assessment for cities like London, Beijing, Delhi, Los Angeles, and Paris, informing policy decisions by municipal authorities and national ministries such as the DEFRA and the Ministère de la Transition écologique. Scientific studies using the mission's data have advanced understanding of emissions during events like the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, volcanic eruptions such as Mount Etna and Eyjafjallajökull, and biomass burning in regions including the Amazon rainforest and Siberia. The mission supports public health research by linking exposure estimates to outcomes tracked by organizations such as the World Health Organization and enables integration into air quality forecasting systems operated by Copernicus, ECMWF, and national meteorological institutes.

Category:Earth observation satellites Category:European Space Agency satellites