EarthCARE (Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer) is the sixth Earth Explorer mission to be launched by ESA as part of its ‘Living Planet’ programme. As industrial prime contractor, Astrium is responsible for the development and manufacture of the Earth observation satellite.
EarthCARE will focus on clouds, tiny particles in the atmosphere – aerosols – and their influence on atmospheric radiation. Among other things, EarthCARE will draw up vertical profiles of natural and man-made aerosols, register the distribution of water and ice and their transport by clouds, and investigate the interrelationships between clouds and precipitation and their effects on radiation. It will be possible to derive profiles of atmospheric heating and cooling by clouds from a combination of the measured aerosols and and ‘cloud elements’.
EarthCARE will thus contribute to a better understanding of our climate and deliver valuable data for climate research and meteorological digital forecasting models. Weighing around 1.7 metric tons, the satellite is scheduled to be launched in 2013. EarthCARE will spend three years taking measurements from a polar orbit (97° inclination) at an altitude of about 400 kilometres.
