{"id":10152,"date":"2015-03-16T15:56:27","date_gmt":"2015-03-16T19:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10152"},"modified":"2015-03-16T20:14:31","modified_gmt":"2015-03-17T00:14:31","slug":"mapping-the-sea-surface-from-the-int-space-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10152","title":{"rendered":"Mapping the sea surface from the Int. Space Station"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Int. Space Station is becoming a popular platform on which to experiment with and implement earth observation systems. For example, the\u00a0company <a href=\"https:\/\/www.urthecast.com\/\" target=\"_d\">UrtheCast<\/a>\u00a0has cameras on the outside of the ISS providing continuous images of the earth. In February, a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.spacex.com\" target=\"_blank\">SpaceX<\/a> Dragon delivered the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/cats.gsfc.nasa.gov\/\" target=\"_d\">Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS)<\/a>\u00a0to the ISS. The CATS system will measure\u00a0atmospheric aerosols and clouds. Last fall, another Dragon delivered NASA&#8217;s\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/missions\/iss-rapidscat\/\" target=\"_d\">ISS-RapidScat<\/a>\u00a0instrument to the ISS where it will measures the speed of wind over the oceans.<\/p>\n<p>The ISS has many advantages as a platform for testing\u00a0earth observation\u00a0techniques\u00a0and\u00a0systems.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Plenty of power available from its big solar panels<\/li>\n<li>Data links, processing, and communications with earth are available.<\/li>\n<li>The ISS&#8217;s\u00a0high inclination\u00a0orbit means it passes over much of the earth&#8217;s land\u00a0and oceans.<\/li>\n<li>People are available on board to install, repair, and replace\u00a0the hardware.<\/li>\n<li>New parts, replacements, etc. can be delivered and, in some cases, old parts and systems returned.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here\u00a0is a report of an ESA project to use the ISS as a platform to measure the wave heights on the oceans:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/Our_Activities\/Observing_the_Earth\/Mapping_sea_surface_from_the_Space_Station\" target=\"_d\">Mapping sea surface from the Space Station<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>16 March 2015<\/strong>: A new concept that involves mounting an instrument on the International Space Station and taking advantage of signals from navigation satellites could provide measurements of sea-surface height and information about features related to ocean currents, benefiting science and ocean forecasting.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/spaceinimages\/Images\/2015\/03\/ISS_for_Earth_science\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"10153\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?attachment_id=10153\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/ISS_for_Earth_science_node_full_image_21.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"700,464\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;18&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON D2Xs&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;NASA 1132          77.0F&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1274629954&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;20&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;500&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.002&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"ISS_for_Earth_science_node_full_image_2[1]\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;NASA 1132          77.0F&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/ISS_for_Earth_science_node_full_image_21.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10153\" src=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/ISS_for_Earth_science_node_full_image_21.jpg\" alt=\"ISS_for_Earth_science_node_full_image_2[1]\" width=\"500\" height=\"331\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/ISS_for_Earth_science_node_full_image_21.jpg 700w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/ISS_for_Earth_science_node_full_image_21-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><em>GEROS-ISS will be installed on the upper balcony of ESA\u2019s Columbus<br \/>\nspace <\/em><em>laboratory, which provides mechanical interface plates as well<br \/>\nas power, <\/em><em>command and data links to the ISS systems.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>We have all seen the beautiful photographs of our planet taken by astronauts, but orbiting Earth 16 times a day just 400 km above, the Space Station also offers a platform from which to measure certain variables related to climate change.<\/p>\n<p>So, in 2011 ESA called for proposals to explore how the Space Station could be used to make scientifically valid observations of Earth. After reviewing and assessing numerous proposals, the result is to further develop the GEROS-ISS mission concept.<\/p>\n<p>GEROS-ISS stands for GNSS reflectometry, radio occultation and scatterometry on board the ISS.<\/p>\n<p>Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) include GPS and Galileo satellites, which send a continual stream of microwave signals to Earth for navigation purposes, but these signals also bounce off the surface and back into space.<\/p>\n<p>The idea is to install an instrument with an antenna on the Space Station that would capture signals directly from these satellites as well as signals that are reflected or scattered from Earth.<\/p>\n<p>This process could be used to calculate the height of the sea surface, and to measure waves \u2013 or \u2018roughness\u2019 \u2013 that can then be used to work out the speed of surface winds.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/spaceinimages\/Images\/2015\/03\/Sea-surface_height_cm\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"10154\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?attachment_id=10154\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Sea-surface_height_cm_node_full_image_21.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"700,400\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Sea-surface_height_cm_node_full_image_2[1]\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Sea-surface_height_cm_node_full_image_21.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10154\" src=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Sea-surface_height_cm_node_full_image_21.jpg\" alt=\"Sea-surface_height_cm_node_full_image_2[1]\" width=\"500\" height=\"286\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Sea-surface_height_cm_node_full_image_21.jpg 700w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Sea-surface_height_cm_node_full_image_21-300x171.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><em>Variations in sea-surface height (cm) obtained by merging multiple <\/em><br \/>\n<em>altimeter\u00a0measurements. GEROS-ISS would be able to observe <\/em><br \/>\n<em>this variability so that maps covering latitudes 51\u00b0 N to 51\u00b0 S <\/em><br \/>\n<em>can be produced every four days.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>GEROS-ISS is primarily an experiment to demonstrate new ways of observing Earth.<\/p>\n<p>However, if taken beyond the testing phase this new approach would complement measurements from satellites carrying altimeters such as CryoSat and Sentinel-3, and satellites carrying wind scatterometers such as MetOp.<\/p>\n<p>Importantly, it is the first concept to assess the potential of spaceborne GNSS reflectometry to determine and map ocean height at scales of 10\u2013100 km or longer in less than four days. Current satellite altimeters, in comparison, offer global maps at scales of around 80 km, which are produced from multiple datasets every 10 days.<\/p>\n<p>A system based on GEROS-ISS would, therefore, complement existing satellite systems, helping to map ocean variability at finer spatial and temporal scales over a range of seas in tropical and temperate regions.<\/p>\n<p>It would also refine our understanding of how well the concept would work for measuring the roughness of the ocean surface.<\/p>\n<p>In this respect, the development of GEROS-ISS benefits from experience gained with the UK\u2019s TechDemoSat-1, which also measures ocean-surface roughness using a similar technique. It is also hoped that NASA\u2019s upcoming CYGNSS constellation of mini satellites will help pave the way for GEROS-ISS.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, GEROS-ISS uses a technique called radio occultation whereby the antenna receives signals that are refracted as they pass through the atmosphere. This can be used to generate vertical profiles of atmospheric humidity, pressure and temperature, as does the GRAS instrument on the MetOp satellites, for example.<\/p>\n<p>Jens Wickert who leads the science team that proposed GEROS-ISS said, \u201cIt is very flexible, combining different mission concepts and applications in one: GNSS-reflectometry to determine sea-surface height, scatterometry to measure sea-surface roughness and radio occultation for atmospheric studies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>ESA engineer Manuel Martin-Neira noted, \u201cThe original concept actually goes back over 20 years and has matured considerably through numerous studies and campaigns, however, it has never been duly tested from space.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing able to use the International Space Station in this way means that we can quickly validate innovative observing techniques without having to build an entire satellite, and we expect this to lead to new opportunities for science,\u201d added Michael Kern, ESA\u2019s GEROS-ISS mission scientist.<\/p>\n<p>Jason Hatton, GEROS-ISS project coordinator, said, \u201cThe concept is still going through feasibility studies, but the aim is to launch the experiment towards the end of 2019.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Flying_over_Columbus_I_m_the_farthest_away_from_Earth_node_full_image_21.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"10155\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?attachment_id=10155\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Flying_over_Columbus_I_m_the_farthest_away_from_Earth_node_full_image_21.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"700,466\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;10&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;D2Xs&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1373381301&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;28&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;200&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0025&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Flying_over_Columbus_I_m_the_farthest_away_from_Earth_node_full_image_2[1]\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Flying_over_Columbus_I_m_the_farthest_away_from_Earth_node_full_image_21.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10155\" src=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Flying_over_Columbus_I_m_the_farthest_away_from_Earth_node_full_image_21.jpg\" alt=\"Flying_over_Columbus_I_m_the_farthest_away_from_Earth_node_full_image_2[1]\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Flying_over_Columbus_I_m_the_farthest_away_from_Earth_node_full_image_21.jpg 700w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Flying_over_Columbus_I_m_the_farthest_away_from_Earth_node_full_image_21-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>This image of Europe\u2019s Columbus space laboratory was taken by <\/em><br \/>\n<em>ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano during his spacewalk on 9 July 2013.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would be carried to the Space Station on a cargo vehicle and installed on ESA&#8217;s Columbus space laboratory using a robotic arm, after which GEROS-ISS would run for at least a year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The GEROS-ISS feasibility studies are being carried out through ESA&#8217;s General Studies Programme.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Int. Space Station is becoming a popular platform on which to experiment with and implement earth observation systems. For example, the\u00a0company UrtheCast\u00a0has cameras on the outside of the ISS providing continuous images of the earth. In February, a SpaceX Dragon delivered the\u00a0Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS)\u00a0to the ISS. The CATS system will measure\u00a0atmospheric aerosols and &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10152\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Mapping the sea surface from the Int. Space Station<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,13,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eyes-in-the-sky","category-space-science","category-space-systems"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-2DK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13092,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=13092","url_meta":{"origin":10152,"position":0},"title":"Videos: &#8220;Space to Ground&#8221; ISS report + Dragon returns to earth &#8211; Aug.26.2016","author":"TopSpacer","date":"August 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest Space to Ground report from NASA on recent activities related to the ISS: https:\/\/youtu.be\/gZCtRccs1xo Today the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft returned from the Int. Space Station, where it had been berthed since July, for a safe landing in the Pacific:\u00a0 SpaceX Dragon Splashes Down with Crucial\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Living in Space&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Living in Space","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"PacificLanding","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/PacificLanding.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12702,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12702","url_meta":{"origin":10152,"position":1},"title":"Videos: SpaceX Falcon 9 booster returns for landing at sea + Bigelow module on ISS expand to full size","author":"TopSpacer","date":"May 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A couple of major milestones in NewSpace last week. On Friday, SpaceX launched the THAICOM-8\u00a0communications satellite with a Falcon 9 rocket. After separating from the second stage, the\u00a0first stage booster of the Falcon returned to earth for a successful landing on the platform of a special ship that maintains a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Rockets&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Rockets","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=5"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/4jEz03Z8azc\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7631,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=7631","url_meta":{"origin":10152,"position":2},"title":"Video: Streaming earth imagery from HDEV cameras on the ISS","author":"TopSpacer","date":"May 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the payloads recently delivered to the Int. Space Station recently by the\u00a0SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is the\u00a0High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) experiment. It consists of cameras attached\u00a0to the exterior of the station that stream views of the earth. You can watch the feed at\u00a0ISS HD Earth Viewing Experiment Live\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Eyes in the Sky&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Eyes in the Sky","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=27"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18654,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=18654","url_meta":{"origin":10152,"position":3},"title":"Videos: &#8220;Space to Ground&#8221; ISS report &#8211; May.3.2019","author":"TopSpacer","date":"May 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The latest Space to Ground report from NASA on activities related to the \u00a0International Space Station: https:\/\/youtu.be\/c27zrOh6qkY ** Great views of earth and vehicles approaching and docking to the station matched with a nice soundtrack: The International Space Station\u2019s High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) experiment is an external camera platform\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;In Space Infrastructure&quot;","block_context":{"text":"In Space Infrastructure","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=15"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/c27zrOh6qkY\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7721,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=7721","url_meta":{"origin":10152,"position":4},"title":"ISS earth observation: ISERV images for enviro tasks + HDEV video now streaming","author":"TopSpacer","date":"May 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The\u00a0ISS SERVIR Environmental Research and Visualization System (ISERV): automatically takes images of Earth through a small telescope with an off-the-shelf digital camera mounted in the International Space Station\u2019s Destiny module. 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It\u00a0was built by Bigelow Aerospace, which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Living in Space&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Living in Space","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"20151222-beam-01[3]","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/20151222-beam-013.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10152"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10163,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10152\/revisions\/10163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}