Two weeks after launching, the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel 3C satellite has returned its first images of our world in sumptuous color.
This first set of images includes stunning views of Italy, the Canadian Arctic, and the Caribbean from the satellite’s ocean and land color instrument, as well as measurements of the height of the Greenland ice sheet and sea surface from its synthetic aperture radar altimeter.
Sentinel-3C is the third satellite in the Sentinel-3 series and will continue the mission’s long-term task of delivering environmental data that are essential for a wide range of applications.
The Sentinel-3 satellites carry the same suite of instruments to systematically measure Earth’s oceans, land, cryosphere, and atmosphere.
Over oceans, Sentinel-3 measures the temperature, color and height of the sea surface as well as the thickness of sea ice to support, for example, the monitoring of marine pollution and marine heatwaves.
Over land, this innovative mission monitors drought and wildfires, maps the way land is used, checks vegetation health, and measures the height of rivers, lakes, and polar ice sheets.
ESA is still in the process of commissioning Sentinel-3C for service, an important and intricate task that will take another 5 months, but after only two weeks in orbit, the satellite’s initial images already showcase that it is on the road to excellence.
The first image, captured by the ocean and land color instrument is a striking natural-color view that reveals Italy in beautiful detail, stretching from southern Germany in the north to Sicily and the southern Mediterranean.
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The second image, also captured by the ocean and land color instrument on September 30th, features part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago to the west of Greenland. Snow and ice-covered islands dominate the scene, with rugged coastlines, deep fjords and exposed rock creating intricate patterns.
At this time of the year sea ice is at a minimum but some fractured floes are visible on the dark open water.
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