15 Years ERS-1 - Environmental Research with EADS SPACE
* Satellite launch on 17 July 1991 marked the beginning of Europe’s radar-based Earth observation from space
* Space technology devoted to environment and security
* EADS SPACE engineers prepare launch of the MetOp weather satellite
Meteorologists, climate researchers and weathermen are keeping a close eye on Baikonur as final preparations are made for the launch of the polar-orbiting weather satellite MetOp. Developed and built for the European Space Agency, ESA, under the leadership of Europe's leading space company EADS SPACE, MetOp is scheduled for launch on 17 July. As well as the date for the launch, July 17 is also an important anniversary - because on 17 July 1991, Europe achieved a successful debut in the field of radar-based Earth and environmental observation with the launch of the ERS-1 satellite.
Friedrichshafen, 14 July 2006
Fifteen years ago, on 17 July 1991, Europe's first radar satellite set out on its scientific exploration of the Earth. ERS-1 (European Remote-Sensing Satellite) was designed for the European Space Agency, ESA, to have a service life of three years, however, it ultimately operated three times as long. It was not until March 2001, that the satellite was switched off on account of a technical failure. ERS-1 has paved the way for environmental research from space. Its successor, ERS-2, which was launched in 1995, has continued this role to date. EADS SPACE was the prime contractor for both missions and supplied both the platform and some key instruments.
"This mission represented the beginning of space technology for us," says Fred Tanner, who was responsible for the ERS-1 software development, and today coordinates all company projects with ESA at the Friedrichshafen site. Building on this experience, numerous other environmental and weather satellites such as Envisat, a flagship mission for climatic research, and MetOp, Europe's first polar-orbiting satellite, have been developed under the leadership of EADS SPACE. These reaffirm EADS SPACE’s position as the most important industrial partner for the European Space Agency. EADS SPACE has the expertise and track record for the construction of future satellites within ESA's "Living Planet” research programme.
ERS-1 – one and a half million images from the Earth
From the start, ERS-1 represented a success story. By the end of its service life it had orbited the Earth 45,000 times and had transmitted 1.5 million images to Earth. The demand for radar images annually increased by up to 30 per cent and in total, the ESA data centre received approximately 15,000 orders from all over the world., The user community is incredibly diverse, ranging from groups of researchers and small high-tech companies to large enterprises and public authorities such as meteorological offices.
At the heart of ERS-1, which circled the Earth on a polar orbit at an altitude of 785 kilometres, was a radar, operating at a wavelength of 5.7 centimetres (corresponding to a frequency of 5.3 GHz in the so-called C-band). During each orbit, the beam scanned a 4,000 kilometre long and 100 kilometre wide strip of the Earth's surface. This made it possible to create images with a resolution of 30 metres.
At that time, the prime contract for the construction of the two key elements, i.e. the high-performance end amplifier and the antenna, was awarded to EADS SPACE in Friedrichshafen. At the same time, EADS SPACE UK was awarded the construction of the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). The French arm of EADS SPACE provided the platform, which was also used for the SPOT satellite and with modifications for Envisat. The Wind Scatterometer Antenna (WSA) and the Radar Altimeter were built by todays EADS SPACE in Madrid.
The fields of application were just as broad as the user community, with three headlines from the 1990s illustrating this: “On El Niño’s trail – ERS-1 measures the temperature of the ocean current.” “Satellite eyes focused on environmental polluters – ERS-1 detects ships discharging oil on the sea.” “Looking through the ice with radar eyes – ERS-1 investigates the relief of the ocean ground under the arctic ice cover.” Furthermore, wind direction and velocity above the oceans could be measured, and so-called "monster waves" could be detected.
The tandem ERS-1 and 2
The launch of ERS-2 established even more applicational possibilities. On the one hand, the satellite was equipped with the ozone measurement device GOME (Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment). This continuously monitors the ozone content in the stratosphere and in particular, changes to the hole in the ozone layer above the South Pole.
On the other hand, both radar satellites could be operated simultaneously for a couple of years. The new technology of radar interferometry could be tested during ERS-1 and 2's so-called ‘tandem-mission’. Using this technology, the same area is imaged at least twice by both satellites, but at different points in time. The image overlay produces an interferogram. This can be used to create digital terrain models with a height resolution of a few metres. Above all, however, it allows the detection of changes on the surface area, which occurred between the imaging sequences, with an accuracy of a few centimetres.
With this technology, for example, it was possible for the first time to determine the flow behaviour of difficult-to-access glaciers. Additionally, it was possible to measure ground subsidence caused by mining. The clients consisted of mining companies, which, on the basis of these measuring data, wanted to find out how to avoid ground displacement or building damage in mining. Tandem enabled geophysicists to precisely measure the extent to which the ground was displaced during earthquakes in Landers, California, or in Greece and Turkey. The measuring data are invaluable in approaching the hitherto unsolved problem of earthquake forecasting.
EADS SPACE is Europe’s leading satellite system specialist. Its satellites activities cover complete civil and military telecommunications and Earth observation systems, science and navigation programmes, and all spacecraft avionics and equipment. In 2005 EADS SPACE had a turnover of €2.7 billion and 11,000 employees in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain.
EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2005, EADS generated revenues of €34.2 billion and employed a workforce of more than 113,000.
Contacts for the media
Rémi Roland
EADS SPACE (FR)
Tel.: +33 (0)1 42 24 27 34
Frédéric-Pierre Isoz
EADS SPACE (FR)
Tel.: +33 (0) 1 42 24 28 77
Jeremy Close
EADS SPACE (UK)
Tel.: +44 (0)1438 77 38 72
Mathias Pikelj
EADS SPACE (GER)
Tel.: +49 (0)7545 8 91 23
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