Sentinel-3 Data

The main objective of the SENTINEL-3 mission is to measure sea surface topography, sea and land surface temperature, and ocean and land surface colour with high accuracy and reliability to support ocean forecasting systems, environmental monitoring and climate monitoring.
SENTINEL-3 shall provide continuity of an ENVISAT-type ocean measurement capability with consistent quality, very high level of availability (>95%), high accuracy and reliability, and in a sustained operational manner including:
- ocean, inland sea and coastal zone colour measurements to at least the level of quality of the MERIS instrument on ENVISAT
- sea surface temperature measurements to at least the level of quality of the AATSR instrument on ENVISAT
- sea surface topography measurements to at least the level of quality of the ENVISAT altimetry system, including an along track SAR capability of CRYOSAT heritage for improved measurement quality in coastal zones and over sea-ice.
SENTINEL-3 shall provide continuity of medium resolution ENVISAT-type land measurement capability in Europe to determine land surface temperature and land surface colour; Level-1B visible, shortwave and thermal infra-red radiances and Level-2 topography products; and a generalised suite of high level primary geophysical products such as:
- global coverage Sea Surface Height (SSH) for ocean and coastal areas
- enhanced resolution SSH products in coastal zones and sea-ice regions
- global coverage Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and sea-Ice Surface Temperature (IST)
- global coverage ocean colour and water quality products
- global coverage ocean surface wind speed measurements
- global coverage significant wave height measurement
- global coverage atmospheric aerosol consistent over land and ocean
- global coverage total column water vapour over land and ocean
- global coverage vegetation products
- global coverage land ice/snow surface temperature products
- ice products (e.g., ice surface topography, extent, concentration).
Secondary Objectives
SENTINEL-3 shall provide continuity of medium resolution SPOT satellite vegetation P-like products by providing similar products over land and ocean, and a generalised suite of high level secondary geophysical products such as:
- global coverage fire monitoring products (e.g. fire radiated power, burned area, risk maps)
- inland water (lakes and rivers) surface height data.
SENTINEL-3 is a low Earth-orbit moderate size satellite compatible with small launchers including VEGA and ROCKOT. SENTINEL-3 is designed for a 7 year operational lifetime with 120 kg of hydrazine propellant allowing up to 12 years of continuous operations, including de-orbiting at the end of mission.
The SENTINEL-3 satellite carries the following payload instruments:
- a push-broom imaging spectrometer instrument called the Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI)
- a dual view (near-nadir and backward views) conical imaging radiometer called the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) instrument
- a dual-frequency SAR altimeter called the SAR Radar ALtimeter (SRAL) instrument
- a Microwave Radiometer (MWR) instrument, supporting the SRAL in achieving overall altimeter mission performance by providing wet atmosphere correction
- a Precise Orbit Determination package including a Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) instrument, a Doppler Orbit determination and Radio-positioning Integrated on Satellite (DORIS) instrument and a Laser Retro-Reflector (LRR).
The SENTINEL-3 PDGS implements complete processing chains for generating ocean colour and land reflectances, land and sea temperature and ocean and land topography products as shown in the figure below.
SENTINEL-3 processing derives SPOT Vegetation-like data products using the combined OLCI and SLSTR instrument data.
The SENTINEL-3 synergy products replicate the attributes and quality of standard 1 km SPOT Vegetation products through innovative spectral remapping and co-location techniques.