The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) have launched an Arctic-Boreal Earth Observation (EO) Supersite in the premises of the FMI in Sodankylä, Finnish Lapland, within the FMI Arctic Space Centre.
Developing an ESA Arctic-Boreal Earth Science, calibration and validation supersite, will help EO satellite missions achieve their full potential to monitor the changing Arctic environment reliably.
The main idea is
• To provide reference data for current and forthcoming Earth Observation satellite sensors to validate their measurements and products for Arctic-Boreal and global applications.
• Thereby, to support EU Copernicus Sentinel missions, ESA Earth Explorer missions and ESA third-party EO-missions with the scientific focus on applications concerning (a) boreal forest ecosystems, (b) hydrology and snow, and (c) greenhouse gases and atmospheric composition.
• To facilitate the development of new satellite sensors, new EO-methodologies, and new reference measurements for space-borne sensors, including co-operation with the Finnish and European space industry using the Sodankylä research infrastructure as a R&D platform for their relevant projects.
Both ESA and FMI are committed to improve and upgrade the currently existing infrastructure on the site based on the needs of future EO missions.
The establishment of the ESA EO-supersite in Sodankylä diminishes a major serious data gap hindering the exploitation of Earth Observation satellites for the high latitudes of the Earth, in particular concerning Arctic-Boreal terrestrial areas and the atmosphere. Once finalised, the facilities will be put at the disposal of all ESA Member State industries for their development projects.
More information
Principal Investigator, Prof. Hannakaisa Lindqvist, hannakaisa.lindqvist@fmi.fi
Co-PI, Dr. Anna Kontu, anna.kontu@fmi.fi
News stories in English:
YLE: https://yle.fi/a/74-20142519
News stories in Finnish:
YLE: https://yle.fi/a/74-20142053
FMI: https://www.ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/uutinen/5B7aaV8vLNC9eDticLypq3
MTV3 news video and story: https://www.mtvuutiset.fi/artikkeli/suomalaisyritykset-kurottavat-avaruuteen-tasta-on-kyse/9096326
Tähdet ja avaruus: https://www.avaruus.fi/uutiset/maa-ja-lahiavaruus/euroopan-avaruusjaerjestoe-ja-ilmatieteen-laitos-perustavat-sodankylaeaen-satelliitteja-kalibroivan-keskuksen.html Maanmittauslaitos: https://www.maanmittauslaitos.fi/ajankohtaista/suomen-30-vuosi-euroopan-avaruusjarjestossa-maan-havainnointi-kasvussa-suomessa
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