Category: News of the other missions

Ten years ago, the Esa's Envisat mission was put into orbit.

Ten years ago, the Esa's Envisat mission was put into orbit. For a decade, more than one hundred cycles (with a-35 days orbital period) are counted. Today, the mission is still operational and still contributes to a robust sampling for near-real-time applications. Thus, Envisat is still a key component providing good complementarity with the tandem Jason and Cryosat-2. The Envisat  altimeter's RA-2 has demonstrated its perfect performances for a wealth of applications: sea level, continental water, ice ... Indeed, thanks to its orbit to make measurements up to ± 82 ° North and South, Envisat is able to reach high latitudes, less available for other missions.

<link fileadmin images news image_du_mois download>	<link fileadmin images news image_du_mois download>
Map of the sea ice thickness anomaly for the 2007/2008 winter (see <link internal-link>Image of the month, Feb. 2010, Credits Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling).	Antarctica topography as measured by Envisat for January 2010 (see <link internal-link>Image of the month, Oct. 2010, Crédits Legos/CNRS).

In October 2010, the Envisat satellite moved to a new lower orbit to ensure an additional 3 years lifespan. This is ensuring the continuity until the next generation of satellites are fully operational in 2013 (Sentinel-3).

Further information:

• Esa's website: <link http: www.esa.int esaeo semb3p4y1zg_index_0.html _blank external-link-new-window>Happy Birthday Envisat!
• Mission: <link internal-link>Envisat
• Images of the month:
• <link internal-link>Oct. 2010, Envisat measures up Antarctica
• <link http: www.aviso.oceanobs.com en news idm sep-2010-asar-vs-altimetry-south-of-africa index.html _top>Sep. 2010: ASAR vs altimetry South of Africa
• <link http: www.aviso.oceanobs.com en news idm feb-2010-arctic-sea-ice-shrinks-and-thins index.html _top>Feb. 2010: Arctic sea ice shrinks and thins
• <link internal-link>Feb. 2009: Water or ice?
• <link http: www.aviso.oceanobs.com en news idm jun-2008-sorting-ice-from-space index.html _top>Jun. 2008: Sorting ice from space