EarthCARE

Earthcare ( Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer) is a planned space mission of the European Space Agency ( ESA) and the Japanese Space Agency ( JAXA ). Planning and construction of the satellite began in 2009, the start is 2016 vorgesehen.Vorlage: Future / In 2 years EarthCare part of ESA 's Living Planet Programme.

Objective of the mission is the study of aerosols and clouds and their influence on radiation in the atmosphere. An improved understanding of these processes is essential for improving climate and weather models.

The satellite will be built by an international consortium led by Astrium, weighs 1.3 tons and generated by solar cells up to 1100 watts of power. He should be placed in a sun- synchronous orbit, where it is to work at least three years. To study the atmosphere he has four instruments: a Doppler radar ( Post by JAXA ) for the measurement of vertical cloud profiles, a camera with 7 color channels, a broadband radiometers and a lidar system with a high spectral resolution receiver. The data thus obtained are transmitted with up to 1.5 Mbit / s to the ground station.