The Sentinel-6B satellite, a collaborative effort between NASA and various international organizations, was successfully launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on November 17. This advanced Earth-observing satellite is specifically designed to monitor global sea levels and provide critical data on the ocean's effect on our planet. Equipped with six sophisticated scientific instruments, Sentinel-6B will contribute significantly to climate change research and coastal safety.
Orbiting Earth at a speedy 7.2 km/s, Sentinel-6B completes a full rotation every 112 minutes, collecting vital information about sea level rise, which can enhance weather forecasting and flood predictions, as well as public safety efforts. The partnership in the satellite’s development includes the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and it falls under the European Union's Copernicus mission family.
According to experts, Sentinel-6B acts as a vital instrument in the ongoing international mission to track sea height changes and document the impact of climate change on oceanic systems. Simonetta Cheli, ESA’s Earth Observation Programmes Director, remarks that Sentinel-6B exemplifies the power of international cooperation aimed at a common goal, emphasizing its anticipated contributions to high-precision climate data collection. This mission complements its twin satellite, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, which was launched in November 2020, enabling precise sea level measurements within an accuracy of approximately one inch across 90% of the ocean surface.
Among its suite of instruments, Sentinel-6B features the Poseidon-4 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) altimeter. This tool rebounds radar pulses off the ocean surface to determine sea level height accurately by timing the return of these emitted signals. Additional instruments include the Advanced Microwave Radiometer for Climate (AMR-C), which helps adjust for atmospheric water vapor that can influence radar reading accuracy, as well as a Global Navigation Satellite System - Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO) device that measures critical metrics such as temperature, pressure, and humidity.
The data collected from Sentinel-6B is expected to play a vital role in shaping public policies, improving infrastructure resilience, and enhancing our understanding of the ongoing climatic transformations affecting coastal regions globally.