Brussels, 17/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - A conference was held in the Belgian Senate on Monday 16 June to mark the launch of Jason-2, a new altimetry and ocean observation satellite. Jason-2 continues the cooperation that began in 1983 between the CNES (Centre national d'études spatiales) in France and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in the United States, which were working on altimetry projects (Poséidon) and ocean observation (Topex) respectively. In 1992, the experimental Topex-Poséidon programme was launched, followed soon after by Jason-1, which, since 2001, has carried out operational oceanography work. At European level, it was part of the GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) project. After its launch from California on Friday 20 June, Jason-2 will take up where Jason-1 left off and will provide continuity of service by taking up the same orbit as Jason-1. It is the first OSTM (Ocean Surface Topography Mission) satellite that international study and ocean observations programmes have been calling for. The CNES and NASA have been joined by two further agencies, Eumetsat (an inter-governmental organisation of 30 European states, formed in 1986) and NOAA (National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration), which, since an agreement in 2004, have been part of the project as Operational Forecast Agencies. These agencies will be responsible for operations from the satellite and for the monitoring, management and provision of information to users (like MERCATOR, an operational oceanography body), while NASA and the CNES supply the materials and measuring instruments for the satellite itself.
Instruments and multiple applications. Jason-2 will move oceanography on to a new level. It will carry five main instruments, two from the CNES (the Poseidon-3 dual frequency altimeter and DORIS - to provide real-time location and precise orbit determination) and three from NASA (Advanced Microwave Radiometer [AMR], Global Positioning System Payload [GPSP], which complements the DORIS system, and the Laser Retroreflector Array [LRA], so that the other instruments can be calibrated precisely using laser tracking). Applications are manifold. Apart from the environmental applications (such as assistance to sailors, as Isabelle Autissier informed the conference), there is a wide range of climatological applications, and implications. Calculating the level of the sea means we can assess the effects and risks of climate change. The effect on demographics is great since the satellite will be able to monitor refugees forced to move because of the climate and the communities at risk from rising water levels (the Tuvalu Islands and even possibly the Netherlands, as Willem Ligtvoet of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Organisation noted). To this can be added weather forecasting and the impact on industry and maritime transport, potential victims of rising sea levels and economic disruption resulting from climate change.
Role of EU. “Climate change is a change for all human kind,” said Eumetsat Director General Lars Prahm at the conference on Monday 16 June. François Parisot, Jason-2 Programme Manager at Eumetsat, said that “Jason-2, with its new instruments, is especially suited to the climate change which we have to meet,” and Jason-3 and Jason-4 will bring continuity and progress. For the moment, projects (since Topex-Poséidon) have been environmental: “The real step forward for the Community will be Jason-3, if it invests in the project, because, for the moment, it depends on cooperation between the various participating countries”. The European Commission has indicated that it will provide funding for the Jason-3 project, due to be launched in the course of this year. (A.D./transl.rt)