As planned, EarthCARE (Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer) was successfully launched at 3:20 pm local time on 28 May (12:20 am CET on Wednesday 29 May) from Vandenberg, California.
EarthCARE, the most complex of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Earth Explorer missions, will study and analyze the role of clouds and aerosols in heating and cooling the Earth’s atmosphere. The mission is equipped with four state-of-the-art instruments that will work together to provide a complete picture of the interplay between clouds, aerosols, and radiation, thereby improving our understanding of climate change.
GMV is playing a major role in this mission. In addition to participating in the launch campaign and supporting mission operations, the company developed the satellite control center and was involved in the initial development phases of the L0 and L1 level processors for the European instruments, namely the Atmospheric Lidar (ATLID), the Broadband Radiometer (BBR), and the Multi Spectral Imager (MSI). It also defined and implemented the BBR’s L2 level processing module for radioactive flux estimation.
Using these instruments, the mission will collect critical data to improve the accuracy of models describing cloud development, behavior, composition, and interaction with aerosols, as well as to refine future climate models and support numerical weather prediction.
GMV expects to continue to play a supporting role in maintaining and upgrading EarthCARE products throughout the life of the mission, providing further insights that will improve our understanding of climate change and the impact of clouds and aerosols.
