Sentinel-5

The Sentinel-5 is an instrument mounted on the MetOp-SG-A satellite, which is a mission dedicated to monitoring the composition of our atmosphere as part of the Copernicus Program.

Mission Objective

Sentinel-5’s mission is to monitor our atmosphere and provide daily high-resolution global coverage as part of ESA’s former air-quality mission. The instrument will be part of the MetOp-SG-A (Second Generation satellites) designed to deliver high precision data through atmospheric observation.

Mission Significance

The mission provides crucial data that aids professionals across various fields—from scientists and environmental organizations to policymakers—in comprehending and managing issues related to climate change, particularly air pollution. Eventually, this data plays a crucial and indirect role in protecting human health and the environment by being provided by the satellite in the most timely and accurate way.

Source: ESA

Engineering Challenges

Sentinel-5 was constructed based on the tremendous success of the Sentinel-5P satellite, which has provided extensive air-quality data since its launch. However, while Sentinel-5P is a temporary mission, Sentinel-5 is destined for a more significant role, as it will have expanded capabilities and improved precision. Sentinel-5P’s central instrument was the TROPOMI (TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument), a powerful spectrometer that will function as Sentinel-5. Developing TROPOMI, or the so-called Sentinel-5, requires overcoming significant technological challenges across multiple domains.

First, TROPOMI will measure atmospheric gases across various wavelengths—UV, visible, NIR, and SWIR. This ability will help support live air quality forecasting, climate modeling, and ozone monitoring. Moreover, it will enable effective environmental management. However, it requires advanced dispersive optics and applicable special materials.

Moreover, in order to measure the weakest signals from atmospheric absorption features, it must have high-level stray light control. The smallest reflection can affect the data, therefore, maintaining a blackbody-like environment is vital.  Also, to avoid spectral drift, the instrument’s surfaces must maintain a stable emissivity. For that, proper thermal management is needed.

Acktar’s Solution

To meet these requirements, Sentinel-5 integrated Acktar’s space-qualified Velvet Black Coating technologies. This coating was applied over the spectrometer to create a micro-structured, light-trapping surface that absorbs incident light over the entire UV-to-SWIR range.

Source: ESA

Impact

The data provided by Sentinel-5 will be vital across various applications, such as:

• Air Quality Monitoring: tracking different kinds of pollutants to help authorities monitor and mitigate the effects of urban air pollution.
• Ozone Observation: tracking the ozone layer depletion substances to support the protection of the ozone.
• Climate Change Studies: Creating climate models to assess the impact of GHGs on global warming and climate systems.
• Weather Forecasting: implanting the data into numerical weather prediction models and enhancing the exciting forecasts.

By delivering this critical data, Sentinel-5 will support scientists and policymakers in reaching conclusions and making decisions, eventually contributing to sustainable environmental practices and enhanced public health outcomes.

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