Copernicus programme
Copernicus » is a European Union Programme aimed at developing European information services based on satellite Earth Observation and in situ (non-space) data. The programme is coordinated and managed by the European Commission. The programme consists of Sentinel missions, in-situ component (ground stations, sensors at sea and in the air) and of services concentrating on the environment and security.
The European Space Agency (ESA) » and EUMETSAT » are responsible for the development of the space segment component of the Copernicus programme.
As to the Copernicus services, the European Commission cooperates with different partners, who are responsible for the operation and development of specific services.
Sentinel missions
Sentinel 1 » mission comprises a constellation of two polar-orbiting satellites, operating day and night performing C-band synthetic aperture radar imaging, enabling them to acquire imagery regardless of the weather. Currently both Sentinel 1A and 1B are orbiting around the Earth.
Sentinel 2 » provides high-resolution optical imagery for land services. The twin satellites Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B were respectively launched in June 2015 and in March 2017. Sentinel 2 has 12 spectral bands of which 4 with 10 m spatial resolution, 5 with 20 m resolution and 3 with 60 m resolution.
Sentinel 3 » provides high-accuracy optical, radar and altimetry data for marine and land services. It measures variables such as sea-surface topography, sea- and land-surface temperature, ocean colour and land colour with high-end accuracy and reliability. Currently Sentinel 3A is in orbit, 3B is intended to be launched at the end of 2017.
Sentinel 4 » and Sentinel 5 » will provide data for atmospheric composition monitoring. They are scheduled to be launched respectively in 2019 and 2020.
Sentinel 5P » is a satellite mission planned to launch in 2017 in order to reduce data gaps between Envisat and Sentinel-5.
Sentinel 6 » will provide high accuracy altimetry for measuring global sea-surface height, primarily for operational oceanography and for climate studies. It is planned for launch in 2020.
ESTHub
The vast majority of Sentinel satellite data and the Copernicus services are made available and accessible on a free, full and open access basis with the aim of facilitating the exploitation of remote sensing data in different application domains. However, it is up to every country to create conditions for the optimum use of the data among its agencies and companies.
The Land Board has been assigned the task of setting up and operating a national mirror site (ESTHub). ESTHub collects and archives datasets that cover the Estonian territory and a buffer zone of about 200 km. These datasets will be freely available and downloadable for anyone, but the required notices » on the data source must be provided.
Last updated: 02.09.2021