A new satellite developed by the European Space Agency will soon be launched into orbit to study clouds, aerosols and the Earth’s entire radiative environment, ie, all the radiation that interacts with our planet. This unprecedented scientific mission is designed to provide a better understanding of the evolution of global warming.

The EarthCARE (Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer) satellite, built by Airbus and developed by the European Space Agency (Esa) in collaboration with the Japanese Space Agency (Jaxa), was scheduled for launch from California on the night of May 28-29, 2024 (CEST), weather permitting, aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.

This new mission is part of Esa’s FutureEO program, which aims to meet the major environmental challenges of tomorrow. It should enable researchers to qualify and quantify the role played by clouds and aerosols, the tiny atmospheric particles present in the air, in warming and cooling the Earth's atmosphere. The aim is to provide a better understanding of future climate change.

EarthCare should be able to provide unprecedented measurements that will enable meteorologists and climatologists to better understand how energy is transmitted and distributed in the atmosphere. To achieve this, the satellite will profile natural and manmade aerosols, record the distribution of water droplets and ice crystals and how they are transported in clouds, and so on. The aim is to gain a better understanding of their influence on radiation reaching the Earth, and of their medium- and long-term consequences.

To carry out all these observations, the satellite is equipped with four measuring instruments, including an ultraviolet Lidar and an optical sensor. Placed in low orbit around 400 km from the Earth, the satellite should be able to operate correctly for at least three years.

 - AFP Relaxnews