A new concept for a polar orbiting satellite dedicated to global change research and its extension to fulfill the meteorological operational mission in the morning orbit is studied by CNES and MATRA, with the support of EUMETSAT and a group of European scientists. Two options were investigated during the feasibility study called GLOB(MET)SAT, the first one, GLOBSAT, restricted to an IGBP-dedicated mission, and the second one, GLOBMETSAT, combining this research mission and the operational met-mission specified by EUMETSAT. The mission objectives, the associated requirements, and the instruments accommodated are presented and discussed, as well as the main results of the phase A study for the space segment. The system configurations, characteristics, performances and the development plan are described. Both options prove feasible and compatible with a target launch date in the 1996-97 timeframe and preserve a significant growth potential. The use of the MK-2 platform developed for the SPOT-4 program and of other recurrent hardware elements appears a significant cost-saving, schedule-securing and reliability factor in both options. In the same line, the GLOBMETSAT system combining the environment and meteorological missions is of mutual benefit for both missions, in terms of reliability, cost sharing and use of platform resources, while keeping each mission independent and unaffected by the other.

Date Published: 1 August 1991
PDF: 16 pages
Proc. SPIE 1490, Future European and Japanese Remote-Sensing Sensors and Programs, (1 August 1991); doi: 10.1117/12.46609

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1490:
Future European and Japanese Remote-Sensing Sensors and Programs
Philip N. Slater, Editor(s)