ESA Open Invitation to Tender AO9829
Open Date: 17/04/2019
Closing Date: 12/06/2019 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 19.18I.02
Prog. Ref.: Fut.Mis.Prep.
Budget Ref.: E/E104-E5 – Fut.Mis.Prep.
Special Prov.: BE+DK+FR+DE+IT+NL+ES+SE+CH+GB+IE+AT+NO+FI+PT+GR+LU+CZ+RO+PL+EE+CA+SI
Tender Type: C
Price Range: 200-500 KEURO
Products: Satellites & Probes / Payloads / Instruments / RF and microwave Instruments / Microwave radiometers
Techology Domains: RF Systems, Payloads and Technologies / RF Payloads / EO Instruments
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate of EO Programmes
Division: Future Missions & Instrument Division
Contract Officer: Aupetit, Irene
Industrial Policy Measure: N/A – Not apply
Last Update Date: 17/04/2019
Update Reason: Tender issue

Satellite altimetry has revolutionized sea-level measurements and is continuously improving in terms of spatial resolution, radiometric performance and in quality of products. Still, ocean nadir altimeters currently measure the sea surface height (SSH) only at the sub-satellite point, thus limiting the spatial and temporal sampling of the ocean. Swath altimeters has the potential of improving the spatial and temporal sampling by measuring also the across track component of the SSH and not only the nadir component. ESA has already initiated and studied the preliminary design of an altimeter with this improved capability (a study called SAOO – Swath Altimeter for Operational Oceanography), with swaths typically reaching about 120 km centered on a nadir. A significant challenge for such a mission, is accurately measuring highly varying water vapor content in the atmosphere over the swath using a radiometer.As with traditional altimeters, current radiometers for altimetry missions also only measure the nadir component of water vapor. While the previous ESA study had focus mainly on the altimeter part of the mission, it is now needed to investigate more in-depth also the radiometer part and strike a balance between instrument complexity and performance. The objective of this activity is to elaborate a novel radiometer instrument design with wide swath or a multi beam capability in order to support future operational altimetry missions with swath capability and to improve operational oceanography.