Monitoring atmosphere pollution from celestial heights
The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) is set to revolutionize air quality management with the launch of several new European space missions in 2025. These advancements, including the Metop-SGA1 satellite and the Copernicus Sentinel-5A satellite, will significantly enhance our understanding of atmospheric processes and improve air quality forecasts.
The Role of CAMS
CAMS, a service of the European Union's Copernicus programme, uses state-of-the-art modelling systems to transform satellite observations into valuable information for policymakers, environmental agencies, and citizens. By understanding how chemicals react, how winds carry pollutants, and how other parameters like sunlight or temperature influence air quality, CAMS is able to provide accurate and timely air quality forecasts.
Metop-SGA1 and Sentinel-5A
Metop-SGA1, the first of the next generation of European polar-orbiting weather satellites, is set to launch on August 12. Carrying six instruments, including the Copernicus Sentinel-5 atmospheric monitoring mission, it will orbit at about 800 km altitude in Sun-Synchronous Orbit. This mission enables frequent and high-accuracy observations of atmospheric composition that are crucial for weather forecasting and climate monitoring.
Later in August 2025, the Copernicus Sentinel-5A satellite will be launched. An evolution of the Sentinel-5 Precursor, Sentinel-5A will orbit Earth every 100 minutes to provide daily global measurements of air pollutants and trace gases such as nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide, methane, and aerosols.
Enhancing Air Quality Forecasts and Monitoring
These satellites improve air quality forecasts and monitoring by increasing temporal resolution, expanding pollutant detection, and supporting climate and policy applications. Sentinel-4A provides hourly regional data over Europe, while Sentinel-5A offers daily global coverage, and Metop-SGA1 adds polar-orbiting data, enabling more frequent updates on pollutant levels.
Capable of detecting multiple trace gases and aerosols, including species like ammonia (via the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer on Metop-SG A), these satellites can provide crucial data for addressing environmental and public health challenges associated with air pollution. The data feed into Copernicus services and models such as CAMS, facilitating pollution alerts, informing policy development on air quality and emissions reduction, and improving climate modeling.
Addressing Global Health Concerns
Air pollution, primarily from fossil fuel burning, road traffic, and industrial emissions, is responsible for nearly 600,000 premature deaths each year in Europe and approximately seven million globally, according to the World Health Organization. By providing real-time, high-resolution data on atmospheric pollutants, these new European space missions aim to help governments and citizens make informed decisions to reduce air pollution and improve public health.
In conclusion, the 2025 launches of Metop-SGA1, Copernicus Sentinel-5A, and other European space missions represent a significant leap forward in Earth Observation for atmosphere monitoring. These advancements will provide unprecedented data granularity and frequency, enabling us to better understand and address the complex challenges associated with air pollution.
- The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), with the launch of satellites like Metop-SGA1 and Copernicus Sentinel-5A, will not only revolutionize air quality management but also contribute significantly to our understanding of environmental-science factors like climate change and health-and-wellness issues related to air pollution.
- The data gathered by these space missions, such as the detection of nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide, methane, and aerosols, will be instrumental in space-and-astronomy research, but more importantly, they will aid in devising strategies to mitigate the harmful effects of air pollution on our health and the environment.
