CEOS EO HANDBOOK – MISSION SUMMARY
- Harmony
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Full Name
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Harmony-A and -B
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Status
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Approved
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Mission Agencies
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ESA
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Launch Date
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Dec 2029
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Mission Links
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mission site
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EOL Date
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Dec 2034
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EO Portal Info
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NORAD Catalog #
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International Designator
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Orbit Type
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Sun-synchronous
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Orbit Period
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98.74 minutes
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Orbit Sense
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Ascending
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Orbit Inclination
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98.19 deg
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Orbit Altitude
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693 km
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Orbit Longitude
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Orbit LST
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18:00
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Repeat Cycle
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12 days
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Objectives and Applications
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Harmony will be dedicated to the observation and quantification of small scale motion and deformation (velocity gradient) fields, primarily, at the air-sea interface (winds, waves, and surface currents, including measurements over extreme events), of the solid Earth (tectonic strain), and in the cryosphere (glacier flows and surface height changes).
Primary mission objectives:
1. Air-sea interaction, tropical and extra-tropical cyclones, and ocean mesoscale and submesoscale processes;
2. Tectonic strain; and
3. Glacier and ice-sheet mass balance and glacier dynamics.
Harmony will make significant contributions to other science domains, including volcanoes, permafrost, landslides and several sea-ice objectives. The space segment will consist of two companion satellites to Sentinel-1, each carrying a receive-only SAR instrument, complemented by a TIR payload. The companion satellites fly in two different configurations with Sentinel-1. In the stereo configuration, one companion is leading and the other is trailing Sentinel-1. The optimum distance to Sentinel-1 (stereo baseline) is determined from a complex trade-off on the performance of both instruments. One of the strongest drivers is the improved viewing geometry associated with large squint angles and both concepts therefore use a long baseline (350 km for Concept A and 400 km for Concept B).
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Mission Measurements
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Mission Instruments
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