ESA: Media invitation for the presentation of applications using early images from the 2nd satellite in orbit for the EU’s Copernicus Earth observation programme

PARIS, 20-7-2015 — /EuropaWire/ — Media representatives are invited to a presentation of potential applications using the early images from the second satellite in orbit for the EU’s Copernicus Earth observation programme.

The event, jointly organised by ESA and the European Commission, will be held on 27 July at the Milano Congressi convention centre, located at Piazzale Carlo Magno in Milan, Italy.

At the event, experts will demonstrate how the Sentinel-2 ‘colour vision’ mission’s critical observations can be used to monitor our changing lands, wetlands and coastal waters.

Key European users will also present their plans for using Sentinel-2 data in the various fields of applications, including agriculture, forestry, wetlands, glaciers and coastal waters.

Sentinel-2A was launched from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 23 June.

Developed by ESA, the Sentinel satellites make up the core of Europe’s Copernicus environmental monitoring network. Copernicus will provide operational information on the world’s land surfaces, oceans and atmosphere to support environmental and security policymaking and the needs of individual citizens and service providers.

Sentinel-2 is designed as a two-satellite constellation – Sentinel-2A and -2B – and will provide imagery for the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service, among other services developed by the EU.

The camera’s 13 spectral bands, from the visible and the near-infrared to the shortwave infrared at different spatial resolutions, take land monitoring to an unprecedented level.

Sentinel-2 is the first optical Earth observation mission of its kind to include three bands in the ‘red edge’, which provide key information on the state of vegetation.

Programme

17:30  Welcome address by Mauro Facchini, Head of Unit at the Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Directorate Space Policy, Copernicus and Defence, European Commission

17:40  Director of ESA’s Earth Observation Programmes, Volker Liebig, discusses the Copernicus Space Component

17:50  Sentinel-2 mission status and outlook overview by Project Manager Francois Spoto and Mission Manager Bianca Hoersch

18:10  Scientists and experts provide an overview of how Sentinel-2 imagery will be used, including applications in agriculture, forestry, wetlands, glaciers and coastal waters. The mission’s image quality and lessons learned from heritage missions will also be discussed.

18:55  Question and answer session

Media registration and information

Media interested in attending the conference are requested to register via email to:  copernicus.space.office@esa.int

For the latest news and more information on the Sentinel-2 mission, visit www.esa.int/sentinel2

For more information on Copernicus, visit www.copernicus.eu

About the European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe’s gateway to space.

ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.

ESA has 20 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, of whom 18 are Member States of the EU.

Two other Member States of the EU, Hungary and Estonia, have signed Accession Agreements to the ESA Convention and will soon become new ESA Member States.

ESA has established formal cooperation with seven Member States of the EU. Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement.

ESA is also working with the EU on implementing the Galileo and Copernicus programmes.

By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country.

ESA develops the launchers, spacecraft and ground facilities needed to keep Europe at the forefront of global space activities.

Today, it develops and launches satellites for Earth observation, navigation, telecommunications and astronomy, sends probes to the far reaches of the Solar System and cooperates in the human exploration of space.

Learn more about ESA at www.esa.int