ESA Open Invitation to Tender AO9114
Open Date: 28/11/2017
Closing Date: 10/02/2018 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 17.155.18
Prog. Ref.: EO-Science for Socie
Budget Ref.: E/E105-E5 – EO-Science for Socie
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
Techology Domains: Others
Establishment: ESRIN
Directorate: Directorate of EO Programmes
Department: Science, Applications & Climate Dep.
Division: Earth and Mission Sciences Division
Contract Officer: Frigot, Emma
Industrial Policy Measure: N/A – Not apply
Last Update Date: 28/11/2017
Update Reason: Tender issue

During the Sentinel-3A/Sentinel-3B E1 Commissioning phase in early 2018, a tandem flight of the two satellites will be flown that will allow direct comparison of measurements taken by the payload of both satellites. The main scientific challenges of the proposed study are: (a) To increase knowledge of Sentinel-3 constellation payload differences, (b) To reduce uncertainties when comparing data from different satellite missions within the constellation and (c) To homogenise differences within the Sentinel-3 constellation payload. When data are obtained from two satellites at different times but at the same location, there is significant correlated uncertainty due to ocean geophysical space and time variability that complicates inter-comparison (especially in regions dominated by mesoscale structure) and due to atmospheric/ionospheric space and time variability. Both issues introduce uncertainty to the direct inter-calibration of S3A and S3B. However by flying S3A and S3B in tandem separated by ~30 seconds on the same ground track (±1 km) the correlation between these uncertainties is maximized so that for all practical purposes they can be ignored. The difference between S3A and its corresponding S3B measurement is then solely due to instrumental aspects. The S3TC project is designed to perform a first comprehensive end-to-end (E2E) scientific analysis and homogenisation of S3A and S3B measurements, from a climate quality perspective, obtained during the tandem phase and for the initial 6-months when the satellites are on their nominal operational configuration.  

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