It not only serves Copernicus, but also the international climate community. The Copernicus Sentinel-6 mission comprises two identical satellites launched five years apart.
DIGITAL ATMOSPHERE RADAR SERIES
Launched on November 21, 2020, Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich uses the latest radar altimetry technology, developed by ESA, to advance the long-term record of sea-surface height measurements that began in 1992 by the French–US Topex-Poseidon satellite and that were followed by the Jason series of satellite missions. And, after a year of exhaustive testing, this new mission is now delivering the world’s most accurate data on sea-level rise. Measuring tiny differences in the height of the sea surface from space is no easy task – but that’s exactly what the Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite is doing. Global measures of sea-level rise are imperative to underpinning global policy and for strategies to protect coastlines and low-lying lands. Sea-level rise is one of the most immediate consequences of climate change, as highlighted recently through urgent pleas from leaders of island nations at the COP26 summit.
Credit: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2020), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO Tarawa, the site of a brutal World War II battle, is divided into North and South Tarawa. Tarawa consists of a large lagoon fringed by a V-shaped reef, around 35 km long, and is made up of more than 30 islets. Tarawa Atoll, pictured here, lies approximately halfway between Hawaii and Australia.
The islands are spread over approximately 3.5 million sq km of ocean, but with a total land area of only 800 sq km. The Republic of Kiribati is an independent island nation consisting of some 33 atolls near the equator in the central Pacific. The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over the Tarawa Atoll in the Republic of Kiribati – a remote Pacific nation threatened by rising seas.
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