Envisat Satellite Mission Summary

Envisat Mission

Objectives and Applications

Physical oceanography, land surface, ice and snow, atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric dynamics/water and energy cycles.

Mission Summary

Full Name

Environmental Satellite

Mission Status

Mission complete

Mission Agencies

ESA

Launch Date

01 Mar 2002

Mission Links

mission site | data access portal

EOL Date

08 Apr 2012

EO Portal Info

Orbit Details

Orbit Type

Sun-synchronous

Orbit Period

100.5 minutes

Orbit Sense

Descending

Orbit Inclination

98.52 deg

Orbit Altitude

782 km

Orbit Longitude

Orbit LST

10:30

Repeat Cycle

35 days

NORAD Catalog #

27386 (TLE)

International Designator

2002-009A

Mission Instruments

AATSR - Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer Click Here For CEOS COVE Mission Coverage Information

ASAR - Advanced Synthetic-Aperture Radar Click Here For CEOS COVE Mission Coverage Information

ASAR (image mode) - Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (Image mode) Click Here For CEOS COVE Mission Coverage Information

ASAR (wave mode) - Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (Wave mode) Click Here For CEOS COVE Mission Coverage Information

DORIS-NG - Doppler Orbitography and Radio-positioning Integrated by Satellite-New Generation

ENVISAT Comms - Communications package on ENVISAT

GOMOS - Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars

MERIS - Medium-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer Click Here For CEOS COVE Mission Coverage Information

MIPAS - Michelson Interferometric Passive Atmosphere Sounder Click Here For CEOS COVE Mission Coverage Information

MWR - Microwave Radiometer

RA-2 - Radar Altimeter - 2

SCIAMACHY - Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography Click Here For CEOS COVE Mission Coverage Information

Mission Measurements

Category	Parameter	Instrument(s)
Atmosphere	Aerosols	AATSR, GOMOS, MERIS, SCIAMACHY
	Atmospheric Humidity Fields	GOMOS, MIPAS, MWR, RA-2
	Cloud type, amount and cloud top temperature	AATSR, MERIS, SCIAMACHY
	Cloud particle properties and profile	MERIS
	Ozone	GOMOS, MIPAS, SCIAMACHY
	Radiation budget	AATSR, MERIS, SCIAMACHY
	Trace gases (excluding ozone)	GOMOS, MIPAS, SCIAMACHY
	Atmospheric Temperature Fields	GOMOS, MIPAS
Gravity and Magnetic Fields	Gravity, Magnetic and Geodynamic measurements	DORIS-NG, RA-2
Land	Albedo and reflectance	AATSR, MERIS
	Landscape topography	ASAR, ASAR (image mode), RA-2
	Soil moisture	ASAR, ASAR (image mode)
	Vegetation	AATSR, ASAR, ASAR (image mode), MERIS
	Surface temperature (land)	AATSR
	Multi-purpose imagery (land)	AATSR, ASAR, ASAR (image mode), MERIS
Ocean	Ocean colour/biology	MERIS
	Ocean topography/currents	ASAR, ASAR (image mode), ASAR (wave mode), DORIS-NG, RA-2
	Ocean surface winds	ASAR, ASAR (image mode), ASAR (wave mode), RA-2
	Surface temperature (ocean)	AATSR
	Ocean wave height and spectrum	ASAR, ASAR (image mode), ASAR (wave mode), RA-2
	Multi-purpose imagery (ocean)	AATSR, ASAR, ASAR (image mode), MERIS
Snow & Ice	Ice sheet topography	ASAR, RA-2
	Snow cover, edge and depth	ASAR, ASAR (image mode), MERIS
	Sea ice cover, edge and thickness	AATSR, ASAR, ASAR (image mode), MERIS, RA-2

Featured Datasets

Envisat DC
Jul-2020

Envisat was ESA's successor to ERS. Launched on 1 March 2002 on an Ariane-5 rocket from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana, Envisat was the largest Earth observation spacecraft ever built with 10 instruments aboard and at eight tonnes was the largest civilian Earth observation mission ever launched. More advanced imaging radar, radar altimeter and temperature-measuring radiometer instruments extended ERS data sets. This was supplemented by new instruments including a medium-resolution spectrometer sensitive to both land features and ocean colour. Envisat also carried two atmospheric sensors monitoring trace gases. - Read more