ERS (Earth Resources Satellite)
The first two remote sensing satellites
launched by ESA (European Space Agency). Their primary mission was to monitor
Earth's oceans, ice caps, and coastal regions. The satellites provided systematic,
repetitive global measurements of wind speed and direction, wave height,
surface temperature, surface altitude, cloud cover, and atmospheric water
vapor level. Data from ERS-1 were shared with NASA under a reciprocal agreement
for Seasat and Nimbus
7 data. ERS-2 carries the same suite of instruments as ERS-1 with the addition
of the Global Ozone Measuring Equipment (GOME) which measures ozone distribution
in the outer atmosphere. Having performed well for nine years – more
than three times its planned lifetime – the ERS-1 mission was ended
on Mar. 10, 2000, by a failure in the onboard attitude control system. The
length of its operation enabled scientists to track several El Nino episodes
through combined observations of surface currents, topography, temperatures,
and winds. The measurements of sea surface temperatures, critical to the
understanding of climate change by the ERS-1 Along-Track Scanning Radiometer
were the most accurate ever made from space. All these important measurements
are being continued by ERS-2.
| spacecraft |
launch date |
launch vehicle |
launch site |
orbit |
mass (kg) |
| ERS 1 |
Jul. 17, 1991 |
Ariane 4 |
Kourou |
774 × 775 km × 98.5° |
2,384 |
| ERS 2 |
Apr. 21, 1995 |
Ariane 4 |
Kourou |
783 × 784 km × 98.6° |
2,516 |
Related category
• SATELLITES
AND SPACE PROBES
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