The Copernicus Sentinel-6 Mission Enhanced Continuity of Satellite Sea Level Measurements From Space

Remote Sensing of Environment 258 (2021) 112395
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Remote Sensing of Environment

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rse
The Copernicus Sentinel-6 mission: Enhanced continuity of satellite sea

level measurements from space
Craig J. Donlon a, *, Robert Cullen a, Luisella Giulicchi a, Pierrik Vuilleumier a,
C. Richard Francis a, Mieke Kuschnerus a, e, William Simpson a, Abderrazak Bouridah a,
Mauro Caleno a, Roberta Bertoni a, Jesus Rancaño a, Eric Pourier a, Andrew Hyslop g,
James Mulcahy a, Robert Knockaert a, Christopher Hunter a, Alan Webb a, Marco Fornari h,
Parag Vaze b, Shannon Brown b, Joshua Willis b, Shailen Desai b, Jean-Damien Desjonqueres b,
Remko Scharroo c, Cristina Martin-Puig c, Eric Leuliette d, Alejandro Egido d, Walter H.F. Smith d,
Pascal Bonnefond f, Sophie Le Gac i, Nicolas Picot i, Gilles Tavernier i
a
European Space Agency ESA/ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, 2201, AZ, Noordwijk, the Netherlands
b
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
c
EUMETSAT, Darmstadt, Germany
d
NOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research, MD, USA
e
Now at TUD, Delft, the Netherlands
f
SYRTE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC, Univ. Paris 06, LNE, 77 Avenue Denfert-Rochereau, 75014 Paris, France
g
Vitrociset, a Leonardo Company, for ESA, Huygensstraat, 2201 DK Noordwijk, The Netherlands
h
RHEA for ESA, Noordwijk, the Netherlands
i
CNES, Toulouse, France
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Keywords: Given the considerable range of applications within the European Union Copernicus system, sustained satellite
Sea level altimetry missions are required to address operational, science and societal needs. This article describes the
Satellite Copernicus Sentinel-6 mission that is designed to provide precision sea level, sea surface height, significant wave
Altimetry
height, inland water heights and other products tailored to operational services in the ocean, climate, atmo
Sea state
spheric and land Copernicus Services. Sentinel-6 provides enhanced continuity to the very stable time series of
Copernicus
Sentinel-6 mean sea level measurements and ocean sea state started in 1992 by the TOPEX/Poseidon mission and follow-on
Ocean topography Jason-1, Jason-2 and Jason-3 satellite missions. The mission is implemented through a unique international
partnership with contributions from NASA, NOAA, ESA, EUMETSAT, and the European Union (EU). It includes
two satellites that will fly sequentially (separated in time by 5 years). The first satellite, named Sentinel-6
Michael Freilich, launched from Vandenburg Air Force Base, USA on 21st November 2020. The satellite and
payload elements are explained including required performance and their operation. The main payload is the
Poseidon-4 dual frequency (C/Ku-band) nadir-pointing radar altimeter that uses an innovative interleaved mode.
This enables radar data processing on two parallel chains the first provides synthetic aperture radar (SAR)
processing in Ku-band to improve the received altimeter echoes through better along-track sampling and reduced
measurement noise; the second provides a Low Resolution Mode that is fully backward-compatible with the
historical reference altimetry measurements, allowing a complete inter-calibration between the state-of-the-art
data and the historical record. A three-channel Advanced Microwave Radiometer for Climate (AMR–C) pro
vides measurements of atmospheric water vapour to mitigate degradation of the radar altimeter measurements.
The main data products are explained and preliminary in-orbit Poseidon-4 altimeter data performance data are
presented that demonstrate the altimeter to be performing within expectations.
* Corresponding author at: European Space Agency, ESTEC (EOP-SME), Keplerlaan 1, 2201, AZ, Noordwijk, the Netherlands.
E-mail address: [email protected] (C.J. Donlon).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2021.112395
Received 10 October 2020; Received in revised form 3 March 2021; Accepted 5 March 2021
Available online 20 March 2021
0034-4257/© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
C.J. Donlon et al. Remote Sensing of Environment 258 (2021) 112395
1. Introduction and background to the Sentinel-6 mission required to validate model projections, separate internal from forced
variability and determine which areas are prone to coastal flooding
Satellite altimetry is a fundamental tool for the European Copernicus (Hamlington et al., 2020). The International Panel for Climate Change
services providing measurements over the global ocean and, increas (IPCC, 2019) note that the total mean sea level rise for 1902–2015 is
ingly in the coastal zones and inland waters. Microwave radiometers 0.12–0.21 m. The rate of rise for 2006–2015 is 3.1–4.1 mm yr− 1 which is
supporting radar altimeter payloads are also extensively used to monitor much larger than the 1901–1990 rate of 0.8–2.0 mm yr− 1. The predicted
atmospheric characteristics in the troposphere (e.g. Varma et al., 2020; rise in mean sea level is strongly dependent on the IPCC Representative
Quilfen and Chapron, 2019; Quartly et al., 2000). The importance of Concentration Pathway (RCP) emission scenario that is followed with
satellite altimetry cannot be overstated in terms of the impact on estimates of 0.29–0.59 m (RCP2.6) and 0.61–1.10 m (RCP8.5) by 2100
operational oceanography (e.g. Munk, 2002; Le Traon et al., 2019) and relative to 1986–2005. By the end of the century, sea level rise is pro
climate science (e.g. IPCC, 2014, 2019). Measurements are used in a jected to be faster under all IPCC scenarios, including those compatible
variety of applications to enable quasi-global estimates of sea level rise with achieving the long-term temperature goal set out in the Paris
(e.g. Cazenave et al., 2018; Veng and Andersen, 2020; Ablain et al., Agreement (e.g. Garbe et al., 2020).
2015), ocean sea state (e.g. Ardhuin et al., 2019; Ribal and Young, 2019; Such an acceleration of sea level rise is dramatic (e.g. Chen et al.,
Dodet et al., 2020), large-scale ocean and mesoscale circulation, 2017; Cazenave et al., 2018) and poses a significant threat to pop
(~30–300 km and ~ 5–90 day) (e.g. Chelton et al., 2007), wind speed ulations living in low-lying coastal regions and small islands (IPCC,
over the ocean (e.g. Abdalla, 2012; Bushair and Gairola, 2019), esti 2019). Sea level rise acceleration derived from satellite altimetry has
mates of sea ice thickness and volume (e.g. Tilling et al., 2018), geodesy been estimated by several authors (e.g. Dieng et al., 2017; Nerem et al.,
applications (e.g. Bloßfeld et al., 2020) and ionospheric mapping (e.g. 2018; Veng and Andersen, 2020). Since January 1993, the majority of
Ray, 2020). Satellite altimetry increasingly contributes to our under recent estimates suggest that the mean sea level is rising at a mean rate
standing of the hydrological cycle by monitor variations in the height of 3.2 ± 0.3 mm yr− 1 (e.g. Quartly et al., 2017, WCRP, 2018 and Fig. 1).
and extent of rivers, lakes, reservoirs and flooded regions (e.g. Emery At the regional scale, ocean thermal expansion is the main cause of the
et al., 2018; Gao et al., 2019; Roohi et al., 2019). In Copernicus (EU, spatial trend patterns observed by satellite altimetry (e.g. Cazenave
2014), measurements are used for operational ocean monitoring/fore et al., 2018) and the loss of ice from the Greenland and Antarctic ice
casting and derivation of geostrophic ocean currents by the Copernicus sheets and from terrestrial glaciers is now the main contributor to sea
Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS, e.g. Le Traon et al., level rise (e.g. IPCC, 2019). Since 1970, the global ocean has absorbed
2015, 2019), wave forecasting and climatology (e.g. Campos et al., more than 90% of the excess heat in the climate system (IPCC, 2019) and
2020; Bidlot, 2017; Cooper and Forristall, 1997), climate monitoring/ since 1993, the rate of ocean warming has increased. A record was
prediction by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S, Buontempo reached in 2020 (Cheng et al., 2021) with measured impacts on the
et al., 2020), numerical weather prediction (e.g. Campos et al., 2020), ocean heat content to at least 2000 m (there are very few measurements
the study of ocean tides (e.g. Carrere et al., 2020) and gravity field below 2000 m available to determine impacts below this depth). The
mapping (Sandwell et al., 2019). Other diverse applications include sea- associated ocean thermal expansion (steric) global mean sea-level
floor mapping (Smith and Sandwell, 1997), investigation of ocean wave- change of ocean warming is estimated as 1.36 ± 0.10 mm yr− 1 for
current interaction (Quilfen and Chapron, 2019), dual-frequency radar 1993–2017 from a combination of different noise models that provide
altimeter inputs to computation of rain rates (Quartly et al., 1999, variability and uncertainty estimates (Camargo et al., 2020).
2000), computation of ocean/atmosphere gas fluxes (e.g. Frew et al., Since 1992 four satellite radar altimeter missions have provided a
2007; Goddijn-Murphy et al., 2013), monitoring ship traffic (Tournadre, sustained ‘reference’ altimetry capability occupying the same ‘refer
2014), estimating extreme waves (e.g., Alves and Young, 2004; Hanafin ence’ orbit (±66.04◦ inclination, 1339–1356 km altitude, 112 min per
and Coauthors, 2012), tracking icebergs (Tournadre et al., 2008). Given revolution) providing a 9.9-day repeat track orbit. These are TOPEX/
the considerable range of applications, sustained altimetry satellite Poseidon (T/P) (launched in August 1992, e.g. Fu et al., 1994), Jason-1
missions are required to address operational science and societal needs. (launched in December 2001, e.g. (Ménard and Fu, 2001), OSTM/Jason-
The Sentinel-6 mission has a specific focus on sea level rise mea 2 (launched in June 2008, e.g. (NASA, 2011), and Jason-3 (launched in
surements and sea state measurements. The successful implementation January 2016) described by Lambin et al. (2010) and Vaze et al. (2010).
of long lead time adaptation measures to sea level rise are particularly Each satellite has been launched sequentially to provide measurements
important for Copernicus stakeholders. The trend of sea level rise is to which all other altimeters are adjusted (e.g. Legeais et al., 2018; Ducet
Fig. 1. Mean Sea level estimates computed from

different satellite altimeter records maintained in the
RADS data base (Scharroo et al., 2013) from 1992 to
2020. Seasonal signals have been removed and the
data are corrected for Glacial Isostatic Adjustment
(GIA). TOPEX data are corrected following Beckley
et al. (2017) and no long-wavelength, trend, or ac
celeration adjustments have been made. Large vari
ations are observed around the multi-mission linear
trend, due to large-scale ocean signals, planetary
mass redistribution, and interannual variability.
Strong variations exist in regional estimates of the
mean sea level variation. Continuous improvement in
altimeter system sampling, performance and data
product accuracy, for all components of the system
(altimeter and radiometer sensors, orbit calculation
and geophysical corrections) is required to enhance
confidence in the application of these measurements.
2
et al., 2000) including high orbit inclination missions such as CryoSat-2 IPCC (2019) notes that extreme wave heights, have increased in the
(Wingham et al., 2006), and polar orbiting mission such as SARAL/ Southern and North Atlantic Oceans by around ~0.8 cm yr− 1 over the
AltiKa, (Steunou et al., 2015) and Copernicus Sentinel-3 ((Donlon, period 1985–2018. Within Copernicus, applications relating to maritime
2011) Donlon et al., 2012). This is important, since the small measure safety led by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) together
ment footprint of nadir viewing altimeters (between ~2 to ~15 km with operational oceanography led by CMEMS, require Hs measure
depending on sea state and radar frequency) severely limits sampling of ments for wave modelling activities (e.g. Le Traon et al., 2019; Lorente
the ocean both in time and in space and that multiple missions must be et al., 2018). Hs is also used to monitor and improve models of extreme
used together. A notable challenge for the ’Next Generation’ of Coper events including hurricane intensification (e.g. Scharroo et al., 2005),
nicus altimeters is to significantly improve the sampling to ~50 km and storm surge (e.g. Madsen et al., 2015), and tsunamis (e.g. Smith et al.,
~5 days to meet the needs of high resolution (1/36◦ ) global ocean 2005; Ablain et al., 2006) among others. Sea-state has a significant role
models (Le Traon et al., 2019). The reference orbit was chosen to limit in climate applications because it modifies the exchange of heat, mass,
the impact of tidal signals (e.g. Parke et al., 1987) that must be removed momentum and gas between the ocean and atmosphere (e.g. Leighton
from satellite altimetry data that includes several components of known et al., 2018) that plays a significant role in the global cycles of energy,
frequencies (e.g. Huess and Andersen, 2001; Łyszkowicz and Bernato water and carbon. New efforts are in progress (e.g. Dodet et al., 2020) to
wicz, 2017). Sentinel-6 inherits this orbit choice which is maintained to homogenize satellite altimeter Hs data sets from different missions and
assure the long-term stability of the sea level record from space (e.g. provide a stable, well calibrated and quality-controlled sea state record
Ablain et al., 2019) and the long-term stability of measurements (a as a contribution to the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS, 2016)
fundamental user requirement for Sentinel-6). Essential Climate Variables ECV (GCOS, 2011; NRC, 2004). Satellite
Fig. 1 shows a multi-mission time series of altimeter sea level rise measurements are of particular value in the southern hemisphere, and in
based on the work of Scharroo et al. (2013). Complications arise when some poorly sampled regions of the northern hemisphere, where climate
deriving rate trends due to the known drift in the Topex-A mission (e.g. trend determination is complicated by the limited in situ data available.
Dieng et al., 2017; Ablain et al., 2019; Nerem et al., 2018) which have To ensure decision makers and policy makers have timely and easy
been included in this figure. However, Hamlington et al. (2020) note access to the best information on aspects of societal relevance, including
that the altimeter record is too short to draw conclusive evidence on sea level rise, the European flagship Copernicus Earth Observation
regional acceleration trends due to the detrimental impact of natural programme has been established (EU, 2014) to provide environmental
variability in known climate modes (e.g. Pacific decadal oscillation, El information to understand how our planet and its climate are changing,
Niño) on trend analysis. If these are accounted for, regional estimates of the role of human activities in these changes and how these will influ
sea level acceleration are significantly dampened. ence our daily lives. Led by the European Union (EU) with the European
In addition to sea level rise, satellite altimetry provides the most Space Agency (ESA) managing the space component, Copernicus is
comprehensive and longest globally sampled record of sea state avail setting worldwide standards. Copernicus is founded on dedicated Ser
able today. Significant Wave Height (Hs) estimates (e.g. Ardhuin et al., vices (e.g. Matevosyan et al., 2017) including CMEMS, C3S and the
2019) are a fundamental input to derive accurate sea-level estimates Copernicus Global Land Monitoring Service (CGLMS) that depend on the
since the impact biases associated with sea state uncertainty (2 cm) provision of satellite altimetry in an operational context. The Sentinel-6
remain the largest contributor to a satellite altimeter range measure mission is a direct response to user needs expressed by the Copernicus
ment (Table 1). The impact of sea level rise is considerably enhanced at Programme and internationally (Escudier and Fellous, 2008). The first
moderate to high sea states in coastal regions and low-lying islands. The satellite has been named Sentinel-6 ‘Michael Freilich’ (S6-MF) in
recognition of the outstanding contribution to Earth Observation of Dr.
Freilich, former director of NASA’s Earth Science Division. It is primarily
Table 1
Sentinel-6 Mission Performance Requirements from Scharroo (2018) specified at designed to measure global sea level change and variability (e.g. WCRP,
Hs = 2 m, sigma0 = 11 dB and 1 Hz. (NRT = Near Real Time within 3 h of data 2018) by ensuring continuity and extended capability of satellite
acquisition, STC=Short-Time Critical within 36 h of data acquisition, NTC = altimetry “reference” measurements (i.e. Sea Surface Height (SSH),
Non Time Critical within 60 days of data acquisition). Significant Wave Height (Hs) and wind speed) without degradation in
Parameter Requirements Goal
precision or accuracy Couderc (2015).
(NRT/STC/ (NRT/STC/ As Copernicus regional models develop (e.g. Ponte et al., 2019),
NTC) NTC) there is a strong demand for improved altimeter measurement accuracy
Ku-band range noise(a): 1.5 1.0 and sampling in the coastal regions (e.g. Vignudelli et al., 2011; Le Traon
Low Resolution (cm) et al., 2019; Climate Change Initiative Coastal Sea Level Team, 2020).
Ku-band range noise(a): 0.8 0.5 This is a challenge due to the relatively large antenna footprint of radar
High Resolution (cm)
altimeters and supporting microwave radiometers that inevitably sam
Ionosphere(b) (cm) 0.5 0.3
Sea state bias (cm) 2.0 1.0(e)
ple both ocean and land surfaces in the coastal zone. Building on the
Dry troposphere (cm) 0.8/0.7/07 0.5 demonstrated capability of the ESA CryoSat 2 Mission (Wingham et al.,
Wet troposphere (cm) 1.2/1.2/1.0 0.8 2006; Francis, 2002), the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission (e.g. Donlon
Goal RMS ellipsoid-normal (radial) orbit 5.0/2.0/1.5 3.0/1.5/1.0 et al., 2012) included a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) altimeter
(cm)
employing delay/Doppler techniques (Raney, 1998, Francis, 2002, Le
Total RSS SSH: 5.79/3.53/3.20 4.2/3.5
Low resolution (cm) Roy et al., 2010) to improve altimeter measurements (e.g. Gommen
Total RSS SSH: 5.65/3.29/2.94 3.53/2.12/1.80 ginger et al., 2013a, Gommenginger et al., 2013b) and in the coastal
High resolution (cm) regions (Gommenginger et al., 2012, Passaro et al., 2014) although this
Hs(c) 15 cm ±5% 10 cm ±5%
mission now operates in SAR mode globally. Over the open ocean these
(0.5–20 m)
Wind speed (for 3 to 20 m s− 1) 1.5 m s− 1
1.0 m s− 1 have demonstrated that SAR mode altimetry brings a significant
σ0 (-10 dB - +50 dB)(d) 0.3 dB 0.3 dB improvement due to the increased number of radar looks (and reduction
in random noise) at a given Earth location (e.g. Boy et al., 2016; Clerc
a. After ground processing, averaged over 1 s, for 2 m wave height.
et al., 2020). Furthermore, SAR altimetry is particularly beneficial over
b. Derived from Ku- and C-band range difference, averaged over 200 km.
c. Valid for the range of 0.5 to 8 m Hs. river and lake targets (e.g. Taburet et al., 2020). Based on this heritage,
d. After cross-calibration with other altimeter missions. an improved SAR altimeter is included in the S6-MF mission.
e. Could also be expressed as 1% of Hs, to be reached at the end of the This paper provides a review of the Copernicus Sentinel-6 mission
commissioning phase. that responds directly to Copernicus user needs. Within Copernicus, to
3
address sampling requirements for operational ocean forecasting, the 5. A Radiation Environment Monitor (REM) sensor.
twin-satellite polar-orbiting Sentinel-3 (e.g. Donlon et al., 2012) and the
Sentinel-6 reference missions will work together as a Copernicus Each of these elements is discussed in dedicated sections below.
altimetry constellation. In the following sections, the satellite configu
ration and payload complement is described and the data products from 3. Sentinel-6 satellite
the mission summarised. Finally, we conclude with an assessment of
early in-orbit performance for the first Sentinel-6 satellite successfully The satellite configuration is derived from ESA’s CryoSat (Francis,
launched on 21st November 2020. 2002; Wingham et al., 2006). That mission had many of the same drivers
as Sentinel-6 including flying in a non-sun-synchronous orbit and the
2. Sentinel 6 mission configuration
Formal end user requirements for the Sentinel-6 mission have been Table 2
established and agreed by the Sentinel-6 Partners and are documented in General overview of the Sentinel-6 satellite applicable to Michael Freilich and
Sentinel-6B.
Scharroo (2018). Table 1 sets out the primary mission performance re
quirements and we highlight that uncertainties for sea level observa Orbit Low Earth Orbit, non sun-synchronous
tions must be equivalent or better than those of the heritage Jason • Repeat cycle: 9.92 days
• Mean altitude: 1336 km; Inclination: 66◦ providing coverage of
missions (e.g. CNES, 2006, 2011). the Earth surface between 66◦ north and south of the equator.
Sentinel-6 includes two identical satellites that will be launched Lifetime 5-year operational mission (with consumables for an additional 2
sequentially (with an expected ~5 year launch separation) into the years) and 6 months for commissioning activities.
altimetry reference orbit with S6-MF overlapping with Jason-3 Satellite • Platform derived from ESA’s CryoSat Mission
• Flight configuration 5.13 m × 4.33 m × 2.35 m
(Sentinel-6B will then overlap with S6-MF after launch). The nominal
• Stowed configuration 5.13 m × 2.58 m × 2.35 m
operational lifetime of each satellite is 5.5 years including commis • Mass: 1191 kg including 230 kg fuel (225 kg after LEOP)
sioning, although sufficient consumables are included to extend the • Power: 891 W average consumption
mission lifetime up to 2 more years as an extended operations phase (in • Data: Volume: order of magnitude 1200 Gbit/day; On-board
agreement with the European Commission) before active deorbit. Fig. 2 storage: 576Gbit
• Communications: X-band data downlink: 150 Mbps at 8.090
presents a summary overview of the Sentinel-6 system. GHz (ESA) S-band Telemetry Tracking and Comand (TTC)
The payload for each Sentinel-6 satellite includes: link: 16 kbps uplink, 32 kbps for 1 Mbps downlink
Instruments • Dual-frequency Radar Altimeter: Poseidon-4 (ESA)
1. A dual-frequency Ku/C-band nadir-pointing radar altimeter with Ku- • Advanced Microwave Radiometer for Climate (AMR–C)
including High Resolution Microwave Radiometer (HRMR,
band operating as a synthetic aperture radar (Poseidon-4),
NASA/JPL)
2. A multifrequency Advanced Microwave Radiometer for Climate • Precise Orbit Determination: GNSS POD Receiver, DORIS (ESA)
(AMR–C) including an experimental High-Resolution Microwave • Laser Retroreflector Array (NASA/JPL)
Radiometer (HRMR), • GNSS-RO TriG Receiver for Radio Occultation (NASA/JPL)
3. A Precise Orbit Determination (POD) suite comprising Global Navi • Radiation Environment Monitor (ESA)
Flight Mission control for Launch and Early Operations Phase (LEOP)
gation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers, a Laser Retroreflector
Operations from ESA Satellite Operations Centre (ESOC). In orbit verification,
Array (LRA) and a Doppler Orbitography Radio-positioning Inte Commissioning and routine operations from EUMETSAT. Two
grated by Satellite (DORIS) system, operational ground stations, at Fairbanks (NOAA) and Kiruna
4. As a secondary payload, a GNSS Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO) (ESA).
Launch Vehicle Falcon-9 (NASA-JPL/KSC).
sensor,
Fig. 2. Sentinel-6 System overview.
4
need to optimise the configuration towards the precise determination of over a window of 0.5 s. After separation near the operational orbit, the
its orbit. Table 2 provides a summary overview of the main satellite spacecraft angular rate is damped using the thrusters, then the solar
characteristics. Unlike its predecessors Jason 1, 2 and 3, the satellite panels are deployed with the attitude control idled. Subsequently the
features body mounted solar arrays which means that both the variable attitude is maintained in a coarse 3-axis nadir pointing using a combi
drag cross section caused by moving solar arrays and the necessary nation of thrusters and magnetorquers. Fine three-axis stabilization used
rotation of the satellite body about the yaw axis are avoided. The sat during science acquisitions is acquired using the star tracker in
ellite also minimises the presented area in the direction of flight to conjunction with the GNSS receiver to point the altimeter line of sight to
minimise the impact of drag. These design features result in a stable the local nadir and compensate the Earth rotation by yaw steering. The
satellite platform. reaction wheels are used as actuators and are continuously off-loaded
An accurate knowledge of the altimeter antenna phase-centre with using magneto-torquers. Orbit corrections are performed in a dedi
respect to the reference ellipsoid is paramount to precisely derive the cated orbit control mode (OCM) where the thrusters fire almost
SSH from the range measured by the altimeter radar. This implies ac continuously to provide required delta-velocity increment. The OCM
curate knowledge of the satellite orbit and its system Centre of Mass was used early in the mission to gradually raise the launcher injection
(CoM) throughout the mission lifetime. The major source of moving orbit up to the operational orbit and rendez-vous with Jason-3 and form
mass within the spacecraft is the propellant within the fuel tank (~20% a tandem flight convoy formation. The OCM is also used routinely to
of total spacecraft mass). A specially developed tank baffle system has maintain the spacecraft ground track within ±1 km of the reference
been implemented that enables the determination of the fuel distribu ground track and, at the end of the mission, to lower the orbit perigee
tion within the tank as it is depleted. The satellite CoM knowledge is allowing the orbit to decay and the satellite to re-enter the Earth at
0.33 mm in the direction parallel to the altimeter boresight over the mosphere within 25 years.
mission lifetime. The spacecraft is fuelled with 230 kg hydrazine
monopropellant of which 62% is used for active de-orbit mission 4. Sentinel-6 poseidon-4 altimeter
disposal, the remaining fuel is used to acquire the orbit and perform a
tandem flight (Donlon et al., 2019) with Jason-3 (~12%) and nominal Poseidon-4 is a nadir-pointing dual-C/Ku-band frequency synthetic
operations. aperture radar altimeter (only the Ku-band operates in SAR) designed to
Since the orbit is non-synchronous with a drifting orbit plan and provide high accuracy and high precision altimetry measurements
varying solar aspect angle, the satellite is designed with a roof shaped including SSH derived from the radar range, and sea state and wind
solar array (15m2 GaAs triple junction cells with 30% efficiency). This speed from normalised radar cross section (σ0). The SSH is provided as a
maximises solar power over the lifetime without the need to steer the height above the reference ellipsoid (WGS-84) computed from the dif
arrays in a similar manner to Jason 1/2/3. A lithium ion (Li-Ion) battery ference of altimeter range (corrected from atmospheric and sea-state
stores sufficient energy to power the satellite system with its payload effects) and the satellite altitude (provided by POD system).
complement during eclipses and in case of contingency over the mission Poseidon-4 uses a 9 kHz Pulse Repetition Frequency (PRF) that is ~4
lifetime. Fig. 3 shows several views of S6-MF. times greater than Jason-3. An interleaved radar chronogram is used to
GNSS antennas are located on the roof of the satellite to optimise enable simultaneous operation of SAR and Low Resolution Mode (LRM)
reception of both Global Positioning System (GPS) and Galileo constel heritage acquisitions to ensure that the introduction of SAR technologies
lation signals. A large Earth-facing panel hosts the Poseidon-4 altimeter, into the reference orbit does not introduce a bias into the long-term sea
the LRA, the DORIS antenna and communications antennas. Satellite level climate record derived from LRM only measurements. The inter
command and control are implemented via a bi-directional S-band leaved (open burst) transmit and receive approach means that twice the
communication link. Scientific data collected over each orbit are stored number of samples are available compared to the Copernicus Sentinel-3
in 576 Gb solid-state mass memory prior to downlink to the ground radar altimeter (SRAL, LeRoy et al., 2009) bringing a notable
station (via X-band link) at a data rate of 150 Mbps (sufficient to improvement of altimeter noise characteristics.
downlink one full orbit of data using a single ground station overflight). TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1/2 all demonstrated the ability to
Accurate altimeter pulse-to-pulse datation (< 5 microseconds) is accurately measure trends in global sea level but no formal design
essential for the Sentinel-6 mission because datation errors transform requirement on long-term drift was ever levied on these mission designs.
into range measurements errors via the variations in the orbit height rate Jason-3 included a design goal to measure globally averaged sea level
of change (which can exceed 25 m s− 1). This requires a very accurate on- relative to levels established during the cal/val phase with zero bias ±1
board clock (provided by a new miniaturised DORIS Ultra Stable mm (standard error) averaged over any one year period (Lambin et al.,
Oscillator, RK410 mini-USO) and time synchronisation across the 2011). For Sentinel-6, to enhance the sea level rise time series, formal
spacecraft sub-systems. For this purpose, the on-board computer dis measurement drift requirements that arise from different contributions
tributes a hardware pulse every second as time reference for all equip impacting mean sea level were adopted as set out in Table 3.
ment which is synchronised to atomic time whole seconds when the on- Assuming that all recognised significant systematic effects are cor
board GNSS receiver is tracking. rected and noting that for climate quality products, the combined
The spacecraft equipment is designed to operate within a relatively standard uncertainty of the 1-s along-track averaged SSH measurements
narrow thermal range (typically 273-313 K). In order to maintain this shall be less than 3.2 cm during the whole operational period (Table 1), a
temperature range, the heat generated by the satellite payload and regional drift requirement of ~3.5 cm is implicit over the mission life
systems in operation must be emitted by arranging radiating surfaces time. We note that new analyses (e.g. WCRP, 2018; Ablain et al., 2019)
that ideally, always point to cold space. With the non-sun-synchronous and the assessments made in the ESA Climate Change Initiative (CCI) sea
orbit of Sentinel-6 there is no face that is always pointing to deep Level project, (Legeais et al., 2018) suggest that even stricter re
space. While a small radiator panel located on the top of the satellite is quirements are needed for future missions.
provided, following the CryoSat heritage, Sentinel-6 makes use of the
large nadir facing panel that always points to the Earth. While not as 4.1. Poseidon-4 instrument description
cold as deep space, this view is relatively stable although a larger radi
ator area is required to meet thermal requirements. The Poseidon-4 instrument uses a single nadir-pointing antenna
The AOCS and Reaction Control System (RCS, including gyroscope, externally mounted on the large nadir-facing panel of the satellite con
Coarse Earth and Sun Sensors (CESS), and a magnetometer) maintain nected to a Digital Processing Unit (DPU) and Radio-Frequency Unit
satellite attitude pointing control. The expected pointing accuracy is (RFU) mounted inside the satellite. Full redundancy of the electronic
±0.11◦ (3-σ), knowledge of ±0.055◦ and stability of ~700 microdegrees units is required to meet instrument reliability requirements over the
5
Fig. 3. (top (A) and middle (B)) Sentinel-6

Michael Freilich satellite and external fea
tures. (bottom) satellite during tests at
IAGB facilities, Germany (C) with solar
wings in stowed position and (D) after solar
wing deployment test.The forward facing
panel of the spacecraft hosts the AMR–C,
Star-tracker heads, one GNSS-RO instru
ment antenna and the REM instrument.
The AMR-C line-of-sight towards the Earth
is arranged to ensure alignment of altim
eter and radiometer footprints on ground.
S6-MF uses star trackers to determine its
absolute attitude in inertial space. Three
star tracker heads point in different di
rections to prevent blinding of one or the
other by sunlight or moonlight at some
point in an orbit. In the event of a failure,
the two remaining star tracker heads will
be able to provide attitude measurements
most of the time. Star-Trackers are also
used within the on-board Attitude and
Orbit Control System (AOCS), providing
attitude information (quaternions) key to
the Poseidon-4 SAR retrievals that are
sensitive to platform ‘mis-pointing’ from
the nominal local normal yaw steered. The
quaternions provide key attitude informa
tion for POD processing. The GNSS-RO
forward looking antenna array is inclined
towards the Earth limb to track the GNSS
satellite signals that rise or set at the hori
zon as they traverse the Earth atmosphere.
A second array is accommodated on the aft
external bulkhead panel to acquire occul
tation profiles from the opposite direction.
The GNSS-RO also has a dedicated POD
antenna mounted on the roof of the satel
lite that provides additional information
for primary mission POD.
6
Table 3 in the altimeter data stream when the instrument is operating. SAR
Sentinel-6 measurement drift requirements. measurements at full resolution are extracted after range digital
Measurement Drift Note compression and can be downlinked over specific regions defined in a
Requirement (1 dedicated mode mask - although the data volume is large. As this is the
σ) case, on-board azimuth processing of 64 pulses is performed followed by
Global mean sea 1 mm yr− 1
Approximately 1/3 of the established range migration compensation and a truncation of the data (described
level value of global mean sea level rise over later).
the altimeter era. Fig. 5 shows the evolution of nadir altimeter radar chronogram used
1
Altimeter range 0.7 mm yr−
Orbit error 0.1 mm yr− 1
as a result of unmodelled or imperfectly
to acquire measurements for different satellite missions. The TOPEX/
Microwave 0.7 mm yr− 1
modelled reference frame or gravity Poseidon and Jason heritage missions within the altimeter reference
radiometer field variations time series have all used LRM measurement strategies in which radar
1
SSB (from 0.1 mm yr− due to drifts in backscatter pulses are continuously transmitted and received at a pulse repetition
backscatter
frequency of ~2 kHz. The ESA CryoSat2 Earth Explorer SIRAL instru
coefficient)
Geophysical 0.1 mm yr− 1 ment (Francis, 2002) first employed a closed burst SAR mode altimeter
corrections in space for Earth observation purposes (Cullen et al., 2006) and pio
Regionally 5 mm yr− 1
average of all sea level measurements neered SAR altimeter retrievals (e.g. Boy et al., 2016). Based on this
averaged sea level within one repeat cycle within an ocean successful demonstration, the Copernicus Sentinel-3 (Donlon, 2011)
area of approximately 40,000 km2
(approximately 2◦ by 2◦ )
SAR radar ALtimeter (SRAL, Le Roy et al., 2010) was developed also
using a closed burst measurement strategy based on a sequence of 64
transmit pulses. Fig. 5 highlights that in both cases, at least half the duty
mission lifetime. This arrangement results in preferred short connections cycle time of the altimeter (a factor 4 for closed burst SAR depending on
between the antenna, DPU and RFU while providing a clear view of the the burst rate and number of pulses per burst) is unused as the altimeter
Earth surface. The RFU includes C-band and Ku-band power amplifiers must wait for the echoes to be returned to the antenna.
with gain control, signal transmit, receive and signal routing functions. To optimise the measurement approach, the Poseidon-4 altimeter
The Poseidon-4 DPU manages communication interfaces to the satellite uses a 9 kHz PRF and an open-burst interleaved chronogram. It arranges
platform, the high-bandwidth digital Ku-band chirp generator, instru the pulse transmit and receive chronogram in a manner that forces echo
ment sequencing, processing of received echoes from the Earth surface, reception to occur in between (interleaved) transmitted pulses to in
digital compression and tracking functions. The maximum bandwidth of crease the number of measurements over a given target. Measurements
the digital chirp is 320 MHz with a pulse duration 32 μs. The DORIS are then multi-looked at target locations on ground to reduce thermal
instrument provides a 10 MHz ultra-stable reference to generate the and speckle noise by averaging at a resolution of ~300 m along-track.
Poseidon-4 internal clock signal. Interleaved mode timing doubles the number of available looks for
Fig. 4 shows a functional block diagram of the Poseidon-4 instru SAR mode and importantly, allows SAR data acquisition simultaneously
ment. The antenna is a 1.2 m diameter single symmetrical parabolic with true LRM data acquisition i.e. there is no instrument transition
reflector that is centre-fed with a dual frequency feed chain at a focal required between LRM and SAR mode. This is particularly important to
length of about 440 mm. The primary altimeter frequency is at Ku-band characterise differences between the long-term historical LRM altimeter
(central frequency: 13.575 GHz, total bandwidth: 320 MHz) with SAR reference time series and new SAR measurements introduced by
capability. The secondary C-band frequency (central frequency: 5.41 Sentinel-6. A pseudo-LRM mode (e.g. Dibarboure et al., 2014) has been
GHz, total bandwidth: 320 MHz) LRM capability is used for ionospheric used to study the differences between LRM and SAR (e.g. Moreau et al.,
Path Delay (PD) correction to better than 0.7 cm, rain cell measurements 2018) using the CryoSat 2 and Sentinel-3 missions. Using pseudo-LRM
and surface roughness estimates. Both C-band and Ku-band channels use measurements, it was possible to determine the pulse-to-pulse correla
linear polarization arranged so that the polarization vector of each tion effects (e.g. Walsh, 1982) on high PRF LRM altimeters, demon
channel is set orthogonal to each other. In addition, the C-band channel strating some potential sea-state dependent discrepancies in the
is set orthogonal to the polarization vector of the nominal AMR-C in determination of SSH and Hs between previous Jason altimeters oper
strument to minimise interference. Radiometer blanking signals are ating at 2 kHz PRF and the Poseidon-4 operating at 9 kHz PRF, (Egido
provided by the altimeter to the AMR radiometer. Radio frequency and Smith, 2019). These discrepancies will need to be analysed and
contamination analysis at satellite level shows sufficient margins and corrected in order for the Sentinel-6 measurements to be fully consistent
blanking pulses are not expected to be used. If needed, the blanking with the geodetic data record.
pulses will be used by the radiometer to stop integrating measurements
when the altimeter is emitting RF pulses in C-Band and/or in Ku-Band. 4.2. Poseidon-4 measurement modes
I and Q signals are digitally sampled from the received analogue
chirp echoes obtained by the analogue receive chain after direct The Poseidon-4 altimeter includes nine separate measurement
demodulation from the initial RF frequency. Digital pulse range modes using two chronograms: an acquisition chronogram and an
compression transforms the received chirp using a matched filter at the interleaved chronogram. Apart from tracking acquisition, the inter
PRF. These form a Brown-like LRM echo waveform (Brown, 1977) over leaved chronogram is used which operates in an open burst configura
the ocean surface (different echo shapes will be generated for other tion with a PRF of 9 kHz. Following the common approach of other
target surface types) with a range resolution of ~42 cm.1 LRM mea altimeter designs (e.g. Steunou et al., 2015), the Poseidon-4 PRF is
surements are derived using the conventional approach of power adjusted along the orbit using the vertical velocity of the satellite plat
detection after range compression and incoherent averaging (nominally form derived from the DORIS instrument. This is implemented for each
over a time window of 50 ms). LRM measurements are required by on- tracking cycle in steps having a worst case ~2.5 m altitude variation per
board acquisition and tracking algorithms and thus, are always available tracking cycle (~50 ms).
In order to address long-term stability requirements, Poseidon-4
implements a new calibration strategy. A heritage CAL-1 approach (e.
1
The theoretical range resolution of Poseidon-4 with a bandwidth of 320 g. as for Sentinel-3, Quartly et al., 2020) provides the instrument Im
MHz is ~0.47 m. However, the altimeter clock is 395 MHz and a conversion of pulse Response for both SAR and LRM by ignoring the antenna and
0.47 m × 320/395 is required that results in a range sample of 38 cm. Thus, looping back the transmit chain with the receive chain. This information
Poseidon-4 is a partially over sampled system. is used to compensate for distortions in signal amplitude and phase
7
Fig. 4. Block diagram of the Sentinel-6 radar altimeter. Blue colours indicate digital electronics and orange colours analogue electronics. Green colours indicate a
hybrid of the two. The Poseidon-4 instrument includes three main units. 1: The Digital Processing unit (DPU) that consists of the chirp generator and sequencer that
generates digital chirps at the carrier frequency and at the instrument PRF. This is sent to the Radio Frequency Unit (RFU) via the Modulator/demodulator function.
The DPU also contains the sequencing and control unit that holds the OLTC DEM and the digital receiver processing unit: this contains the core functions to process
the received echoes from the RF unit. The processing unit includes a matched filter to de-compress the received chirps, selection of waveforms, the SAR high
resolution (HR) data, waveform accumulation for the Low Resolution (LR) data (also used for closed loop tracking), and a Range Migration Correction (RMC)
function and output. The formatting unit converts the processed LR, HR and RMC waveforms into formatted Instrument Source Packets (ISPs). 2: The RFU converts
the Ku-band digital chirps into analogue Ku- and C-band pulses that are amplified for transmission through the duplexers to the antenna. Receive echoes are passed
through the receive duplexer paths into a dual band receiver that tunes the power levels and up-converts the C-band pulses to Ku-band before sending the echoes to
the DPU. 3. The antenna is the interface for transmission of Ku- and C-band pulses and reception of their echoes. The instrument digital and RF units are duplicated in
a second instrument to increase redundancy, though there is only the one antenna. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is
referred to the web version of this article.)
Fig. 5. Evolution of satellite radar altimeter chronograms highlighting the optimal use of available transmit and receive time when using the Sentinel-6 interleaved
(open burst) measurement approach compared to Sentinel-3 (closed burst mode) and Jason series that provides LRM measurements only.
along the entire emission and reception bandwidth. The frequency of continuously monitor instrument delay and amplitude variations along
CAL-1 acquisitions will be determined from the measurements them the orbit. Since amplification gain control knowledge directly impacts
selves during commissioning activities. A dedicated calibration pulse the σ0 measurements, an attenuation calibration (CAL_ATT) is included
(termed CAL_ECHO) within each tracking cycle is also used to in the design. This measures the top of the range impulse response
8
within the full attenuation dynamic range that is then matched to a coastal and inland water surface acquisitions, the OLTC has a much
corresponding value on ground. The CAL_ATT is then used during larger memory allocation of ~9 Mb compared to 1 Mb on the Jason-3
ground processing to correct the echo power used to estimate σ0. A Pulse and 4 Mb on Sentinel-3A and B missions, respectively. This larger size
Repetition Interval (PRI) calibration is implemented to characterise the means that more complex river and lake targets (where the terrain is
internal Impulse Response (I&Q) of the instrument at each PRI step in often characterised by large elevation change river valleys) can be
flight. Although not required due to the digital architecture of Poseidon- included. Sentinel-6 Poseidon-4 will be the first altimeter mission to use
4, a heritage CAL-2 is available to measure the transfer function of the an uncompressed OLTC coded as 2 bytes (signed values). Contrary to the
receive and test the reception chain of the altimeter. The in-flight CAL-2 Jason-3 and Sentinel-3 missions, the OLTC is indexed by orbit (127 or
of S6-MF shows a slope of 0.02 dB over the window with no edge effects bits for the Sentinel-6 reference orbit), in which each point is described
(there was ~0.1 dB of anti-alias filter effect seen on S3/CryoSat/Jason by its angular position at a resolution of 0.01◦ for 36,000 positions
missions). Thus, in LRM, S6-MF uses the full analysis window of 256 × within each orbit referenced and a vertical resolution of 1 m to the Earth
0.38 m samples. Geoid. In this configuration, it is possible to upload in-flight a
Both Open Loop (OL) and Closed Loop (CL) tracking are offered by completely new DEM to the instrument or to patch any part of the DEM
Poseidon-4. OL tracking is particularly useful over coastal transitions during closed-loop operation. Fig. 6 shows the current set of OLTC river
and acquisitions over river and lake targets that present challenges to and lake targets in the OLTC for S6-MF just before launch.
the CL tracking approach. The instrument uses a matched filter on During commissioning, full resolution (LX2) data acquisitions will be
receive with an on board range window of ~20,000 samples that is used to gain experience of using and understanding the differences be
down sampled to 256 samples. Poseidon-4 uses a dedicated CL 2 kHz tween LRM, raw SAR, and LRMC data on derived geophysical products
chronogram for initial echo ‘acquisition mode’ with a large 720 m over all surfaces. After a thorough analysis of these data and comparison
window over a shorter radar cycle duration. DORIS instrument navi to Jason-3 data, a final choice of operating mode will be made for the
gation data are also used to reduce time taken to establish altimeter Sentinel-6 mission (e.g. LRMC over all surfaces potentially allow a larger
tracking and minimise data loss when the instrument is switched be acquisition of inland water retrievals using SAR data).
tween modes. Once an initial search, set and lock process is complete,
the position of the tracking window is automatically adjusted on board 4.3. On-board range migration correction (RMC) processing
to ensure continuous tracking using the 9 kHz interleaved chronogram.
Following Sentinel-3 SRAL, the Poseidon-4 OL approach sets the posi The purpose of the on-board Range Migration Correction (RMC) al
tion of the tracking window directly from pre-computed altitude values gorithm is to reduce data volume due to system constraints. The function
stored on-board the instrument in a one-dimensional Digital Elevation aligns each burst of waveforms in range and selects a configurable
Model (DEM) called the Open Loop Tracking Command (OLTC, e.g. Le number of samples for downlink to ground. The RMC function (Pha
Gac et al., 2019). Position, velocity and time (PVT) coordinates derived lippou et al., 2012; Phalippou and Deemster, 2013) performs a trunca
from DORIS are used to look up the relevant OLTC values. The inter tion of the altimeter echo waveform and reduces the data rate by a factor
leaved chronogram allows different configurations for the data on-board of two. All RMC truncated data are transmitted for on-ground process
processing and data downlink summarised in Table 4. ing. An overview of the process is provided in Fig. 7.
Building on lessons learned from Jason-2, Jason-3, Sentinel-3A/B for A Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is performed on each pulse of the
burst to transform the input pulses from the time domain into the fre
quency domain and range data are then processed to centre the spec
Table 4 trum at the zero frequency. A fully configurable azimuth weighting mask
Summary of available Sentinel-6 Poseidon-4 configurations.
with 64 values stored onboard is applied to compensate for power/phase
ID (closed Loop = CL, Description distortions within a burst. A correction is then applied to each pulse in
Open Loop = OL) the burst to align the burst in range with respect to the extrapolated
LRM_CL Conventional LRM echoes acquired with a low PRF and ellipsoid-normal (radial) velocity derived from the 0.1 Hz DORIS state
provided as power samples over the range window vector. This allows a lossless reversal of the on-board RMC processing to
LX_CL Raw SAR I and Q echoes in the frequency domain (i.e.
be performed on ground. A Doppler centroid correction is employed to
without any on-board Range Migration Correction
(RMC) processing) together with LRM measurements compensate for changes in orbit altitude rate that otherwise would cause
LRMC_CL LRM together with SAR measurements after on-board errors depending on the ellipsoid-normal (radial) velocity. After buff
RMC processing (reversible on ground) has been ering, 64 Doppler beams are formed for each burst in azimuth. An RMC
applied to reduce data volume. matrix stored on-board the instrument is applied to each burst that
LX2_CL LRM measurements, raw SAR I and Q data and SAR
RMC data. The LX2_CL mode is the only mode that
aligns the pulses at the leading edge that is calculated for fixed mean
allows Poseidon4 to download the LRM, SAR and RMC values of altitude, satellite velocity and PRF. This is fully configurable
data for the same time and location. It is designed to in-flight, though expected not to change once tuned shortly after launch.
validate the on-board RMC processing by reversing, on- Following an inverse FFT to convert to the time domain the final step is
ground, the RMC applied by the on-board processor.
to truncate the waveform by removing all samples after 128 range bins.
This mode cannot be used as routine mode due to the
considerable amount of data that is generated Fig. 8 shows the resulting waveform and impact of removing 128 range
LRM_OL LRM data only (heritage mode for reference altimeter bins from the waveform trailing edge in terms of waveform power.
missions and useful during early commissioning While the RMC on-board processing is reversible on ground, the
activities). removed part of the waveforms cannot be recovered.
LX_OL LRM and SAR I&Q data
LRMC_OL LRM and SAR I&Q data after on-board RMC processing
The retrieval of ocean parameters from satellite altimetry waveforms
is applied fits the returned echo to a theoretical model (e.g. Halimi et al., 2014). A
TPX Transponder mode: this is a specific mode for external different model is used for LRM and SAR (e.g. Ray et al., 2015; Recchia
calibration over targets sites with well-known location et al., 2017) since a SAR altimeter waveform has a distinctly different
and characteristics. OL tracking is used with a fixed
shape compared to an LRM waveform (see Fig. 9). While most of the
instrument gain and initial satellite-terrain height
tracking instruction to provide LRM, SAR RMC and SAR information is contained in the first half of the SAR waveform, signifi
I&Q data. Transponders, if used, should not exceed a cant effort has been dedicated to simulating the impact of truncated SAR
maximum power level of 6.7 dBm in Ku-band and − waveforms on the performance of Sentinel-6.
6.75 dBm in C-band in order not to damage the The performance of on-board processing depends on the ability of
Poseidon4 receiver or degrade the measurements.
the RMC matrix to represent in-flight conditions. The ellipsoid-normal
9
Fig. 6. Locations of river and lake targets within the Sentinel-6 Poseidon-4 OLTC. The OLTC currently accommodates 31,805 targets of which 8655 define rivers,
21,666 define lakes, 1484 define reservoirs with no targets defined yet for glaciers. (see https://www.altimetry-hydro.eu/ for more information Credit: D. Blumstein,
CNES/LEGOS and S. LeGac, CNES).
Fig. 7. Simplified block diagram describing the Sentinel-6 on-board Range Migration Correction (RMC) processing. The example images are for illustration pur
poses only.
10
Fig. 8. Comparison of SAR waveform and corresponding reconstructed waveform after the RMC process has been reversed highlighting the negligible differences in
the first part of the signal after truncation.
coefficient σ0. The Sentinel-6 mission performance simulator (S6MPS)

simulated instrument source packets (ISP) that were further processed
using the Sentinel-6 Level 1b Ground Processor Prototype (GPP), to re
verses the on-board RMC processing before applying the SAR processing
chain. After masking the model for the truncated data, parameters were
estimated with a Levenberg-Marquardt curve-fitting algorithm using the
waveform model described in Recchia et al. (2017). The most extreme
case considered Hs = 8 m, a surface slope of 360 μrad with an altitude
change rate of 15.5 ms− 1. Results are shown in Fig. 12 and other more
realistic simulations that show lower errors are reported in (ESA, 2018).
Based on these simulations, the on-board RMC processing is not ex
pected to affect the performance of Sentinel-6 level 2 products. This
holds for nominal situations with different altitude rates and for extreme
cases of sea surface slope not taken into account by the on-board RMC
processing. Preliminary in-flight performance of the RMC is reported in
later sections confirms this finding.
Fig. 9. Different characteristic waveform shapes for SAR and LRM echoes at
different Hs highlighting the peaked form of a SAR return. The figure shows
5. Advanced microwave radiometer for climate (AMR–C)
averaged SAR (solid) and pseudo-LRM (dashed) waveform from Sentinel-3 for
Hs = 3,5,7,9,11,13 and 15 m, for cycle 23 orbit 349, on 25 October 2017 in the
Pacific (after Ardhuin et al., 2019, modified by G. Quartly with permission). To accurately monitor ocean parameters, Poseidon-4 altimeter
measurements require an accurate determination of wet tropospheric
PAth Delay (PD) over a range of 0–40 cm. The water vapour content
(radial) velocity is extrapolated from the on-board DORIS navigation
within the troposphere exhibits large spatial and temporal variability
information provided with an uncertainty of 1.5 mm s− 1 every 10 s. The
which is difficult to model commensurate with the space and time res
actual velocity for each pulse depends on the extrapolation algorithm
olution of the altimeter measurement (Brown, 2013). Instead, the
but is expected to be at the same order of magnitude. However, in
Advanced Microwave Radiometer for Climate (AMR–C) is designed to
certain parts of the ocean there can be significant slopes in the geoid
provide data necessary to correct Poseidon-4 radar pulses for this effect.
(Fig. 10) which cause the ocean-surface-normal velocity to depart from
The contribution of the wet troposphere PD to the overall altimeter-
the ellipsoid-normal velocity. While the OLTC ~1 km horizontal and 1 m
derived SSH error budget is set at ≤1.2 cm for Near Real Time (NRT,
vertical resolution captures most variation (based on the mean sea
3 h from data acquisition) and Short Time Critical (STC, 36 h from data
surface derived from altimeter measurements and models) some dif
acquisition). For Non Time Critical (NTC, 60 days from acquisition) the
ferences may remain. These may be sufficient to misalign the central
requirement is ≤0.8 cm (all performance as RSS at 1 Hz for a typical sea
beam of the burst within the azimuth window and of the stack of
of 2 m Hs and 11 dB σ0 at 1 s along-track data rate). In addition to PD, the
waveforms being processed. In this condition, the RMC processing may
AMR-C also provides an atmospheric attenuation correction of the
not be able to align the leading edge properly and the Doppler bins are
altimeter surface backscatter due to rain, clouds and water vapour (e.g.
not aligned orthogonally to the range bins. Simulations show that a 100
Ruf et al., 1995). In non-precipitating conditions it is ≤0.007 dB for C-
μrad surface slope will lead to a misalignment of up to 3 range bins
band and ≤ 0.05 dB for the Ku-band radar frequency. In precipitating
within the burst leading to a loss of 3 range bins after truncation. An
conditions, it is ≤0.05 dB and ≤ 0.5 dB for the C-band and Ku-band radar
extreme along-track slope of about 360 μrad, as simulated in Fig. 11,
frequency, respectively.
results in the loss of up to 11 range bins.
The AMR-C instrument (Fig. 13) is an evolution of the AMR devel
In order to compare the performance of the parameter retrieval al
oped by NASA-JPL, for Jason-2 and Jason-3, which itself was based on
gorithm between unprocessed SAR and RMC SAR data before launch,
the TOPEX Microwave Radiometer (TMR) and Jason Microwave Radi
several simulations have been conducted and analysed. These focused
ometer (JMR) embarked on the TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1 missions
on comparisons between unprocessed SAR and RMC processed data for
respectively (e.g. Brown et al., 2004; Maiwald et al., 2016). It measures
the same simulation of derived SSH, Hs and the normalised backscatter
11
Fig. 10. Estimated global Sentinel-6 along-track slope in the ascending (top) and descending (bottom) directions, in micro-radians (1 μrad = 1 mm change in geoid
height per 1 km of movement along the surface of the ellipsoid) computed using Jason-3 Cycle 55 as a proxy for the Sentinel-6 ground track and projecting the global
north and east components of slope into the along-track slope component on the ground track.
linear polarized brightness temperature (TB) at 18.7, 23.8 and 34 GHz. It beams are equalized in the along-track direction by averaging and
uses an internal reference load and three noise diodes for short-term therefore only differ slightly across-track (Brown, 2006).
calibration, which is performed autonomously as part of the nominal For a measurement system designed to act as a reference and monitor
measurement cycle. The three-frequencies are used to separate the three sea level rise, it is critical that any drift in the AMR-C be accounted for
dominant components of the TB signal to estimate wet PD: total atmo since this has a direct impact on the quality of Poseidon-4 measurements
spheric water vapour, total integrated cloud liquid water and wind and the ability of the measurement system to track variations of the
induced ocean surface roughness (e.g. Fernandes et al., 2015). The in global mean sea level. Experience with the microwave radiometers on
strument is dual linearly polarized, with one polarization being the TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1 has shown they are susceptible to small
nominal radiometer side and the other polarization being the redundant but systematic calibration issues (e.g. Brown, 2013, Brown et al., 2009).
side. Since observations are acquired at nadir, polarization only has a Sentinel-6 sets a long-term PD stability of ≤0.7 mm (standard error)
weak dependency on surface roughness and its orientation (Tran et al., averaged over any one year period for NTC products. To address this
2002; Francis, 2002). The nominal instrument polarization is oriented requirement, an external supplemental calibration system (SCS) has
perpendicular to the ground track and the redundant instrument po been developed which is used to maintain the long-term stability over
larization is oriented parallel to the ground track. The spatial resolution mission life. The SCS includes a small reflector placed between the
of the measurements in all channels is less than 35 km and the antenna radiometer feed horn and the main reflector that directs the AMR-C
12
Fig. 11. (A) Simulated burst over a surface slope of − 360 micro radians before RMC processing. (B) Burst after truncation and after realignment and (C) Realigned
and truncated burst. The loss of ~11 range bins at the tail of the echoes can be observed.
Fig. 12. Comparisons between simulated RAW and RMC mode for the same simulation of the following retracked parameters: SSH, Hs and the normalised back
scatter coefficient σ0. All simulations are based on output from the S6MPS and GPP.
beam to a blackbody warm calibration target maintained at ~300 K or to calibration through the entire measurement path, including the main
cold space (~3 K). During each SCS calibration (every five days when reflector. This information will be used to calibrate the cold sky mirror
the satellite is over land), the cold space and warm target are used to of the SCS. In this way, the long-term calibration of the SCS will be
calibrate the radiometer internal calibration sources; noise diodes (gain) independently checked against on-ground vicarious reference targets as
and reference termination (offset). Using the SCS, the AMR-C can be well as cold-sky every 10–30 days (to be refined based on in flight
accurately and swiftly calibrated without changing the orientation of the analysis).
entire spacecraft to point at the cold sky or waiting for passage over a In total, five radiometer systems were built, two for each AMR-C and
vicarious target on Earth (Maiwald et al., 2020). The AMR-C SCS is one spare and prelaunch performance shows a measurement noise of
predicted to provide long term stability to 0.07 K yr− 1 relative to 0.1 K 0.13 K (Maiwald et al., 2020). After antenna temperature calibration
yr− 1 requirement based on 5-day SCS calibration cadence. and pattern correction an RSS uncertainty in brightness temperature at
In addition to the SCS, a periodic cold sky calibration satellite pitch 1 Hz of 0.25 K, a 0.3 K system margin is achieved. Using a representative
manoeuvre is used to point the AMR-C main antenna beam instrument radiative transfer model to simulate TBs and compute PDs from nu
feedhorns at a cold sky location. This provides a stable baseline deep merical weather model geophysical fields (Brown et al., 2004), PD error
space view 2.7 K signal to the instrument with a minimum Earth has been mapped to brightness temperature error using the PD retrieval
contribution in the antenna back lobes. This approach ensures a cold algorithm, which provides a sensitivity for each channel following
13
Fig. 13. The Advanced Microwave Imager for Climate (AMR–C). See Maiwald et al. (2020) for a full description of the Sentinel-6 AMR–C.
Keihm et al. (1995). The pre-launch performance estimates by this microwave radiometer (HRMR) AMR-C subsystem was developed
analysis indicate a 1 Hz measurement AMR-C PD uncertainty of 0.62 cm. (Kangaslahti et al., 2019) to provide high spatial resolution measure
ments at 5 km resolution. HRMR includes millimetre-wave channels at
90, 130 and 168 GHz with good sensitivity in the atmospheric water
5.1. High resolution microwave radiometer (HRMR)
vapour continuum. The HRMR has a sensitivity (Noise Equivalent Dif
ference Temperature, NEΔT) of better than 0.2 K and stability of 0.2 K
The troposphere affects the altimeter radar signal at various time-
for all three frequencies over 60 s. HRMR shares the primary reflector
space scales, from high frequency - in the vicinity of fast moving at
with AMR–C. Since off-axis operation at higher frequencies results in
mospheric fronts and near the coasts - to low frequency and large scales
beam distortion, the HRMR must be on the primary optical axis. Data
over open ocean. The relatively large ground footprint of the AMR-C
from these channels will extend the WP delay retrievals closer to the
18–34 GHz channels remain the baseline inputs for Sentinel-6 to
coast under cloud-free conditions on an experimental basis. In opera
determine WP delay over the open ocean but near coastlines, the
tion, HRMR data will not use the calibration targets of the AMR-C SCS
retrieval error significantly increases due to antenna beam contamina
but will be cross calibrated based on the AMR measurements over ocean
tion by warm landmasses (e.g. (Desportes et al., 2007, Lázaro et al.,
targets before coastal transitions occur. See (Maiwald et al., 2020) for a
2019). For Jason-2/OSTM, the impact of land contamination in the
full description of the Sentinel-6 HRMR.
measurement field of view increases rapidly ~30 km from the coastline
Fig. 14 (left) shows the HRMR and AMR-C beam placements in the
with a minimum residual variance at 40 km (Sibthorpe et al., 2011).
coastal zone, and (right) simulated combined AMR-C and HRMR re
To support the high resolution SAR mode from the Poseidon-4 SAR
trievals in the coastal region: the benefit of the HRMR smaller footprints
altimeter in the coastal zone, an experimental high-resolution
Fig. 14. (left)A)) approximate beam placements for the AMR-C low frequency channels and the HRMR high frequency channels when approaching the coast. (right
(B)) simulated error for PD retrievals when using AMR-C low frequency channels and combined processing of AMR-C and high frequency HRMR channels in the
coastal zone.
14
together with AMR-C footprints after coastal processing techniques have satellite. A dedicated GNSS antenna for the GNSS-RO is located on the
been applied is clearly evident within 40 km of the coastline. satellite roof.
The AMR-C PD retrievals will be validated using comparisons with
ground-based radiometers, and radiosonde soundings, as well as other 7. Radiation environment monitor (REM)
space-based radiometers (for example, SSM/I). The AMR-C performance
and calibration on-orbit will be monitored using heritage approaches The high altitude inclined orbit of Sentinel-6 is closer to the proton
developed over past decades of altimetry with additional efforts specific belt than typical Low-Earth Orbits satellites, which induces a much
to characterise SCS including vicarious ocean targets, Amazon forest harsher radiation environment for the on-board electronics. Like the
areas (providing a ‘hot’ reference) and inter-satellite comparison within CARMEN-2 on-board Jason-2 and -3, Sentinel-6 hosts a Radiation
the altimetry constellation. In addition, comparison to numerical Environment Monitor (REM) in order to correlate any on-board event
weather model derived PD and wind speeds will be used. with radiation effects and to measure the space radiation environment.
The REM instrument counts high-energy particles using extremely sen
6. Radio occultation (GNSS-RO) sitive detectors and follows the long heritage of the Standard Radiation
Environment Monitor flown on many ESA satellites (Desorgher et al.,
Sentinel-6 includes a GNSS Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO) payload as 2013). Processed measurements will be ingested in the ESA Space
a secondary mission element to determine atmospheric temperature and Weather processing chain.
humidity profiles by measuring bending angles of GNSS signals occulted
by the Earth’s atmosphere (e.g. Kursinski et al., 1997). GNSS-RO mea 8. Precise orbit determination (POD) complement
surements provide atmospheric vertical temperature profiles with good
vertical resolution (~0.5–2 km) in the upper-troposphere to the middle Accurate determination of the satellite orbit is a fundamental
stratosphere (~8–35 km). Data from the Constellation Observing System component of the Sentinel-6 mission that is primarily dedicated to es
for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate/Formosa Satellite Mission 3 timates of sea level. Table 1 shows that NRT orbit determination of 5 cm
(COSMIC/FORMOSAT-3, Anthes et al., 2008) show a positive impact on or better (goal is 3.0 cm) is required in the radial component after all
Numerical Weather Prediction (e.g. Healy et al., 2020) and consistency processing. The NTC requirement is 1.5 cm (with a goal requirement of
of global temperature reanalyses in the lower and middle stratosphere 1 cm). The Sentinel-6 GNSS-POD multi-frequency receiver is designed to
(e.g. Long et al., 2017; Ho et al., 2019). Other applications include measure the position of the satellite and operates using existing GPS
spatial maps of balanced GNSS-RO monthly mean zonal and meridional satellites and European Galileo satellite systems (e.g., Johnston et al.,
winds (Scherllin-Pirscher et al., 2014, Verkhoglyadova et al., 2014, 2017; Hein and Pany, 2002). In addition to a larger number of satellites
Healy et al., 2020). The Sentinel-6 GNSS-RO is designed to retrieve for position fixing, Galileo signals are expected to bring greater perfor
~1000 occultations per day, provide L1b and L2 products within 3 h mance. Two GNSS-POD units are included in a redundant configuration
(90%) using measurement ray path tangents from ~8 km extending up that can track up to 24 single frequency channels with a single frequency
to ~500 km altitude. tracking scheme or up to 18 GNSS satellites using a dual-frequency
The Sentinel-6 GNSS-RO receiver was developed by NASAJPL based tracking scheme. Each is designed to deliver real-time orbit position
on the TriG sensor (e.g. Ho et al., 2019). The Sentinel-6 high elevation, and orbit velocity measurements in the WGS 84 Earth centred fixed
low inclination non sun-synchronous drifting orbit was studied to frame coordinates, and time measurements with respect to UTC and GPS
determine the requirements and performance of GNSS-RO. In conclu system time. The GNSS-POD unit provides the internal pulse-per-second
sion, two GNSS-RO antennas are deployed on Sentinel-6: one on the timing information to all the equipment on board the satellite including
forward (Fig. 15) and a second on the aft external bulkheads of the the payload.
A large number of GNSS signals can be exploited by the Sentinel-6
GNSS unit including L1, L2, L5 and Galileo E1 and E5. Ionospheric
attenuation of signals is corrected using a differential technique based
on two signals at different frequencies. The 3D velocity of the spacecraft
(at 3σ accuracy) must be better than 0.12 m s− 1 at 1 Hz sampling rate
(when selective availability is not enabled) with pre-launch analysis
indicating an expected performance of 0.0042 m s− 1 (99.7%). The real-
time on-board horizontal positioning accuracy (circular error) must be
better than 4 m with pre-launch analysis indicating an expected per
formance of 1.01 m (95%). This is required to control the altimeter
open-loop tracking operations and platform navigation. Further ground
processing computes satellite altitude with improved accuracy to meet
the requirements for Sentinel-6 within the Copernicus POD Service (e.g.
Fernandez et al., 2015). The GNSS-RO will also provide supplementary
data for POD by means of positioning provided via the dedicated GNSS-
RO POD antenna also accommodated on the roof of the satellite.
A DORIS sub-system (e.g. Nouël et al., 1988; Jayles et al., 2006;
Auriol and Tourain, 2010) provides geodetic navigation packets
including the satellite altitude variation rate with respect to the refer
ence ellipsoid surface to an accuracy of 0.1 mm s− 1 at a resolution of 0.1
mm s− 1 sampled every 10 s. The instrument includes a new design ultra-
stable oscillator (RK410 mini-USO) that provides the clock for the
Poseidon-4 precise retrievals and positional information allowing
improved altimeter surface tracking. The DORIS 1 Hz reference atomic
Fig. 15. Photograph of the NASA GNSS-RO receiver antenna subsystem time pulse has a design accuracy of 5 microseconds or better at a reso
embarked on Sentinel-6 together with star tracker and the AMR–C. The lution of 100 ns providing a datation accuracy of 1–2 microseconds (e.g.
Poseidon-4 antenna is visible and covered by a protective blanket ready Jayles et al., 2016). These measurements are used to derive the on board
for flight. real time orbit determination (DIODE; Jayles et al., 2002) with position,
15
along-track and cross-track components <1 m RMS (ITRF or Geodetic using precise ancillary data (e.g., final orbit altitude and meteorological
reference frame), with ellipsoid-normal (radial) component position less models) and calibrations to provide the highest quality data products for
than 5 cm RMS (ITRF) and the velocity of each component <0.001 m operational users. Level 2P products are mono-mission along-track
s− 1, at 1-σ (ITRF or Geodetic reference frame). The DORIS altitude products with enhanced geophysical corrections and bias correction
variation rate is also used to centre the Doppler frequency map in the derived with other missions. They have the same sampling intervals as
RMC compression of the altimeter. Level 2 products. For continuity with the Jason-3 mission, Level 2P SSH
A Laser Retroflector Array (LRA) developed by NASA is included in products will be provided as low-resolution products in NTC latency.
the mission to support independent ground-based laser tracking for Other Level 2P products include: high-resolution SSH (all latencies),
precise orbit determination and validation. Laser tracking provides high-resolution wind speed and Hs (NRT latency only). Level 3 products
ranging to an accuracy of <2 cm and will be used throughout the are global mono-mission along-track products with adjustment of orbit
Sentinel-6 commissioning phase and operationally during the mission errors, editing, error information, as well as regional mono-mission
for SLR-based POD validation. The LRA is a small passive optical device along-track products derived from the corresponding Level 2P prod
consisting of quartz corner-cubes that directly reflect an incident laser ucts. Both 1-Hz and 5-Hz sampling rates are planned.
beam compatible with Satellite Laser Ranging stations operating at The Sentinel-6 product suite includes an AMR Level 2 product con
wavelengths of 532 nm and/or 694 nm (Pearlman et al., 2002). taining measurements from the AMR-C instrument at the native sam
pling rate of approximately 16 Hz. These new products serve users that
9. Ground segment and mission products want to exploit the water vapour information for atmospheric modelling
and are produced at all latencies (NRT, STC, and NTC). Only NTC
The Sentinel-6 mission product definitions are mainly derived from products apply the final calibrations computed using data from the
the Sentinel-3 and Jason-3 products definitions and a full overview of AMR-C SCS measurements.
products can be found in Scharroo et al. (2016). These are summarised As part of the product baseline, every 1 to 2 years a reprocessing of
in Table 5. all NTC products is planned. In this way, all historical data will be
The primary altimetry mission provides three operational data ser upgraded using the most recent knowledge of instrument behaviour,
vices with different levels of products, delivery timeliness tuned to ap improved ancillary data, enhanced algorithms, etc., as implemented in
plications with different mission performance (see Table 5). NRT the product processors. This approach is fundamental to achieving and
Altimetry Service (ALT-NRT) Level 2 products are available to end-users maintaining the goals of Sentinel-6 as a reference altimeter mission.
within 3 h of acquisition. They include Hs and wind speed, primarily for
meteorological services. SSH has a has lower accuracy compared to STC 10. Early results from Sentinel-6 Michel Freilich
and NTC products dues to the use of preliminary orbit information and
predicted meteorological corrections. STC Altimetry Service (ALT-STC) On 21st November 2020 S6-MF Launch and Early Operations (LEOP)
Both Level 1 and Level 2 products are available to the end-users within began. The satellite was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle from the
36 h after data acquisition. They include Hs and Wind Speed and a more Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, US, at 17:17 UTC. The satellite
accurate SSH using improved ancillary data (e.g., orbit altitude, mete was injected into orbit 18 km below Jason-3 prior to tandem flight
orological models, etc). These data are designed for ocean modelling and acquisition manoeuvres. During this period, the LEOP was completed by
assimilation by ocean models. ALT-STC Level 1A products will provide ESA teams and the mission flight control was handed over to EUMETSAT
high-resolution individual echoes, while the Level 1B products contain on 24th November 2020. On November 30th, the Poseidon-4 altimeter
the high- and low-resolution waveforms, both with additional instru instrument was switched on.
ment and calibration information for use by teams using alternative The DORIS unit Ultra Stable Oscillator (the RK410 mini-USO is a new
altimeter retracking techniques with a short latency. NTC Altimetry model for this equipment) is performing extremely well with a stability
Service (ALT-NTC) Level 2 products are available to end-users within 60 performance of 5.10− 14 s over a 100 s period and 0.007.10− 8 s over 1.5
days after data acquisition. The ALT-NTC Level 2 products are derived days (factor ~ 10 improvement from previous models). The DORIS
datation accuracy is better than the 2 μs specification.
Table 5 The first Sentinel-6 GNSS data (that includes Galileo and GPS) were
Sentinel-6 data products and delivery timeliness (HR = High Resolution, LR = available on 26–27 November 2020 and the initial analysis by ESOC’s
Low Resolution). See Scharroo et al. (2016) for a complete review. Navigation Support Office immediately showed a very good GNSS data
Near-Real Time: Level 2P HR, Short Time Critical: Non Time Critical: quality. The performance from the GNSS POD shows that all instruments
Level 2P and Level 3 LR Level 2P and Level 3 HR Level 2P and Level 3 LR are functioning within expectation. This is the first Earth satellite that
Wind/Wave and HR makes use of both the Galileo and GPS constellations. Initial analysis
Mainly for operational Met For ocean modelling Highest quality show that Galileo brings enhanced quality and performance compared
agencies (wind and wave) and assimilation intended climate to GPS receivers flown on previous Copernicus missions. This means that
Products split by satellite Product split by pass studies and research the orbit determination of Sentinel-6 will likely be one of the best
dump/granules (per ground (pole to pole) Products split by pass
available today - significantly reducing the uncertainty in sea level rise
station/10-minute chunks) NetCDF (pole to pole)
NetCDF and BUFR NetCDF estimates. Future development of the Galileo High Accuracy Service
3-h latency 36-h latency 60-day latency (HAS) is likely to bring further improvement for future missions.
Level 2: Low- and high- Level 1A: Individual Level 1A: Individual Initial measurements obtained from short passes over ocean with
resolution products echoes (HR only) echoes (HR only) nominal satellite pointing show an overall estimated mis-pointing of
Standard (1-Hz and 20-Hz) Level 1B: LR and HR Level 1B: LR and HR
Reduced (1-Hz) Level 2: LR and HR Level 2: LR and HR
~0.01deg2 derived from LRM MLE-4 re-tracking measurements and ~
BUFR (1-Hz and 20-Hz) Standard (1-Hz and 20- Standard (1-Hz and 20- 0.01◦ pitch based on SAR analysis. The Poseidon-4 interleaved impulse
Level 2P: Harmonised L2 Hz) Hz) response calibrations (termed ECHO_CAL) that are recorded every 0.1 s
(1-Hz) Reduced (1-Hz only) Reduced (1-Hz only) shows a noise level of between 0.2 and 0.3 ps. The transfer function
MWR Level 2: 16-Hz AMR Level 2P: Harmonised Level 2P: Harmonised
amplitude reveals a very small slope of ~0.02◦ over the full signal with
measurements L2 (1-Hz) L2 (1-Hz)
Level 3: With orbit Level 3: With orbit random noise standard deviation of 0.01◦ . This compares with a varia
error correction, error error correction, error tion of around 0.1◦ for CryoSat-2 SIRAL and Sentinel-3 SRAL from which
information (1-Hz) information (1-Hz) a random noise level extraction is not possible since they are dominated
MWR Level 2: 16-Hz MWR Level 2: 16-Hz by features of the respective radar design (anti-alias and digital filters).
AMR measurements AMR measurements
Scientific justification and relevat requirements have been
16
Table 6 differences associated with long-wave swell signatures aliasing into the
Preliminary range and Hs noise estimates (standard deviation) over the ocean SAR radar footprint compared to heritage LRM measurements, have
surface of S6-MF Poseidon-4 compared to Sentinel-3A SAR and Jason-3 LRM potential to introduce temporal and seasonal biases and impact the
data during the in the first 2-weeks of tandem flights. Measurements are for Hs stability of the altimeter time series (e.g. Ablain et al., 2019). A tandem
= 2 m, σ0 = 11 dB at 1 Hz for STC processed data. calibration phase is also essential to computing accurate sea level rela
S3A SAR S6MF SAR Jason-3 LRM S6-MF LRM tive biases between two altimeter missions and link their global and
Radar Range STD (cm) 5.0 3.2 7.0 6.2 regional MSL time series (Leuliette et al., 2004; Dorandeu et al., 2003) to
Hs STD (cm) 38.0 22.0 50.0 41.0 GCOS requirements (Zawadzki and Ablain, 2016). Furthermore, the
only viable way to effectively cross-calibrate the backscatter (wind
speed) and wave height measurements in a short time period is via
established (Donlon et al., 2019) for the Sentinel-6MF mission to
tandem flights (e.g., Quartly, 2009).
perform a 12-month tandem flight in which it will follow the Jason-3
Limited processing of Posiedon-4 SAR and SAR-RMC data has been
satellite 30 s in time on the same ground track. Following system
performed using preliminary data available from the first few days of
checks, a series of manoeuvres were initiated to bring the satellite into a
operations. Initial results demonstrate exceptional performance in terms
Tandem flight configuration with Jason-3 that was achieved on 18th
of the fundamental calibration parameters and science data in all radar
December 2020 with S6-MF flying 30 s behind Jason-3. A tandem flight
modes. Table 6 shows preliminary noise performance estimates of the
is particularly important since Sentinel-6 introduces SAR altimetry into
Poseidon-4 altimeter radar range and Hs over the ocean surface
the reference altimeter orbit time series for the first time, to reduce
compared to Sentinel-3 SRAL and Jason-3 measurements during the fist
uncertainties in the measurements (e.g. Moreau et al., 2018; Reale et al.,
2-weeks of data aquisition.
2020; Ablain et al., 2009; Zawadzki and Ablain, 2016). Furthermore,
Fig. 16 shows a comparison between data processed using the on
Fig. 16. Example waveforms from S6-MF obtained during the 30 November 2020 Poseidon-4 switch-on highlighting initial measurement performance. Top: Example
for Hs = 2 m, Bottom: Example for Hs = 6 m. RAW SAR data were processed on the ground using the ESA Ground Prototype Processor (GPP) and show that the on-
board RMC processor is performing within expectations.
17
board S6-MF RMC algorithm (orange line) and full resolution raw data reference transponders allow a detailed validation of σ0, range, datation,
processed by the ESA GPP on the ground (blue line). The low noise and the point target response among other parameters. As part of the
performance of the altimeter is notable. For both low and moderate sea ESA Permanent Facility for Altimeter Calibration (PFAC) located in
state there are no significant differences in geophysical parameter Crete, Greece (Mertikas et al., 2018, Mertikas et al., 2019a, Mertikas
retrieval performance between raw and RMC data processed on board. et al., 2019b, Mertikas et al., 2020), a transponder has been established
These results indicate that the processor on-board the satellite imple in a mountainous area of western Crete (CDN1) as a dedicated external
menting the Range Migration Compensation (RMC) algorithm is func calibration source for satellite altimetry (Pavlis et al., 2004, Mertikas,
tioning with expected performance. 2010c; Mertikas et al., 2010a,b, Mertikas et al., 2011). the transponder is
Fig. 17(a) shows a Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA, 2012) colour com supported with in-situ reference systems (DORIS ground station, GNSS
posite image of the Ozero Nayval peninsula, Russia at a 10-m resolution reference points, radiometer for wet tropospheric correction, etc.
on 29 October 2020. The peninsula is surrounded by a mountainous (Mertikas et al., 2020). The ESA PFAC is run operationally and maintains
region and lies on the eastern part of the Bering Strait. It has a unique a complete uncertainty budget (Mertikas et al., 2019b) to Fiducial
low-lying land-bound lagoon, various river and lake features that are Reference Measurement (FRM, Donlon et al., 2015, Hollmann et al.,
clearly visible in the image that are marked together with the ground 2013, BIPM, 1995; JCGM, 2008) quality.
track of S6MF as it crosses the region. Fig. 17(b) shows a Copernicus Fig. 18 shows the results from the first PFAC transponder pass ob
Sentinel-1B (ESA, 2012) interferometric wide swath C-band radar image tained on 18th December 2020 almost immediately after the tandem
captured on 29 November 2020 that has been processed to 10 m reso orbit configuration was acquired. Measurements have been corrected for
lution. The radar look direction is from the right with layover effects wet and dry troposphere path delay using in situ radiometer and GPS
seen on the mountainous region to the left of the image. The lagoon has measurements at the PFAC, and for solid earth tides. The CDN1 tran
frozen over and numerous cracks are visible in the ice. Ocean swell and sponder exhibits an asymmetrical range response with an elevated first
wind sea roughness are also seen in the ocean with some wave reflection side-lobe associated with the transponder antenna gain pattern. This is
and refraction on the southern coastal areas. of no concern since the same feature is also visible in all previous passes
Fig. 17(c) shows a Poseidon-4 fully-focused SAR (FFSAR) image of of Sentinel-3A, Sentinel-3B, CryoSat and Jason transponder measure
the same area that reveals features of the Ozero Nayvak peninsular in ments. Otherwise, the transponder results reveal a very symmetrical
fine detail. The high performance and low noise of Poseidon-4 enables point target response in both range and azimuth that is well-centred and
this exceptional result. In this example, the altimeter data were first a range and azimuth resolution within expectations. Based on the pre
processed at a resolution of 1.1 m in the azimuth direction (left to right) liminary results obtained from four independent analysis teams using
and < 0.4 m in the range direction (vertical). Data are then multi-looked three transponder passes between 18 December 2020 and 06 January
in azimuth to reduce speckle noise resulting in an image at a resolution 2021 we find a range difference of ~1 cm between S6-MF and Jason-3
of ~30 m. The radar backscatter power is coded by colour as a function that is consistent with a limited analysis of along-track SSH over the
of across-track range and clearly reveals features of sea ice in the lagoon open ocean. For fully focussed SAR, we estimate a datation bias of ~10
and low-lying river and lake features. Unlike the Sentinel-1 image, the μs ±10 μs, an altimeter range noise of ~0.2 cm, a range resolution of
Sentinel-6 Poseidon-4 radar is illuminating the scene from top to bottom 0.41 m (that is almost identical to the theoretical expectation) and an
of the image and in this case, ocean wave structure and wave refraction azimuth resolution of ~0.6 m. Further transponder passes will confirm
at the southern coastline can be clearly seen. Unavoidable range ambi these preliminary results.
guities are seen in the upper part of the image. The low noise perfor Fig. 19 shows Copernicus Sentinel-6 sea-level anomaly data, overlaid
mance of Poseidon-4 measurements are clearly revealed in this striking on a map showing similar products from Jason-3, Sentinel-3A and
result. Further work is required to explore this capability in marginal ice Sentinel-3B. The background image is a map of sea-level anomalies from
regions, over river and lake targets, and potentially for large ocean satellite altimeter data provided by the Copernicus Marine Environment
swell. Monitoring Service for 4 December 2020. The data for this image were
Compared to the moving ocean surface, static ground-based taken from the Sentinel-6 ‘Short Time Critical Level 2 Low Resolution’
Fig. 17. (a) Sentinel-2B colour composite image of Ozero Nayvak peninsular (64.433 N, − 172.3466 W), Russia obtained on 15th August 2020 with annotations of
key features. (b) Sentinel-1b interferometric wide-swath C-band SAR image obtained on 29th November 2020. (c) S6-MF fully-focussed SAR (FFSAR) image obtained
on November 30th 2020 processed by Aresys. The FFSAR image is not geolocated or projected and the white square indicates the approximate position of the
Sentinel-6 altimeter image in (c).
18
Fig. 18. (Left) Fully focussed SAR results from Posiedon-4 for the first PFAC transponder pass obtained on 18th November 2020 immediately after the S6MF tandem
orbit configuration was acquired. Right: expected theoretical response. The asymmetry seen in the range cut is a feature of the PFAC transponder seen by all satellite
measurments when using this system. Data processed by the ESA Ground Prototype Processor (GPP).
Fig. 19. Copernicus Sentinel-6 sea-level anomaly data, overlaid on a map showing similar products from Jason-3, Sentinel-3A and Sentinel-3B.The background
image is a map of sea-level anomalies from satellite altimeter data provided by the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service for 4 December 2020. The S6-
MF and Sentinel-3 tracks are from 5th December 2020.
products generated on 5 December. The Sentinel-3 track data were also frame. Both AMR-C and HRMR are performing within expectation.
acquired on 5th December 2020. A good consistency of measurement Fig. 21 shows the results obtained from the first SCS motion that was
with Sentinel-3 and Jason-3 is evident. completed on 2nd December 2020 using a diagnostic mode in which
After switch-on, the AMR-C and HRMR have been continuously only 18 and 23 GHz channels are available. Radiometric data show
acquiring data and global TB have been produced from all channels nominal performance with little to no gradient between SCS warm load
using pre-launch calibration. Instruments temperatures stabilised in the temperatures and the SCS is performing within expectation. The AMR-C
first day and both instruments are performing nominally. The pre calibration is 0.2% relative to SCS target brightness temperature.
liminary early orbit performance of both AMR-C and HRMR is excellent: Further analysis will refine these results using SCS calibration data to be
instrument diagnostics align with pre-launch values for gain, noise diode performed every five days.
ratios, and noise equivalent difference temperature (NEΔT). Preliminary Building on these early results, the challenge is to confidently con
HRMR measurements show expected features over the globe with good nect Sentinel-6 with the historical reference time series by detecting,
water vapour dependence increasing with frequency and a higher characterising and mitigating errors, end-to-end biases and drifts. Dur
sensitivity to snow cover over land. For AMR–C, TB are within about ing the first 6–12 months after launch, the majority of ground-processing
~1% of on-Earth references using pre-launch calibration that is within algorithms and all critical output quantities and associated errors will be
the expected pre-launch uncertainty. The final AMR/HRMR calibration calibrated and validated (ESA, 2020). A multi-national scientific activity
coefficients will be updated after SCS calibration results from the first will then continue throughout the mission lifetime to evolve the per
cycles have been analysed. Fig. 20 shows the first cycle wet tropospheric formance of the operational system to FRM standards. To coordinate
path delay from S6-MF AMR-C using pre-launch calibration parameters Sentinel-6 international validation activities a Sentinel-6 Validation
with good qualitative agreement with Jason-3 path delays for same time Team (S6VT) has been established (see http://www.s6vt.org for more
19
Fig. 20. The first cycle S6-MF AMR-C preliminary wet tropospheric path delay using pre-launch calibration. The final AMR/HRMR calibration coefficients will be
updated after SCS calibration results have been analysed.
information). The core activities include statistical analysis of compar 11. Summary and conclusion
isons with other satellite missions based on established approaches (e.g.
Scharroo et al., 2004, Ablain et al., 2010), external measurements from The Copernicus Sentinel-6 Mission has been designed to continue the
in-situ measurements (e.g. Mitchum, 1998, Bonnefond et al., 2011, heritage satellite altimeter missions occupying the specific ‘reference
2018, Bonnefond et al., 2019, Watson et al., 2011, Chambers et al., orbit’ that have supplied the long-term reference data set to accurately
2003, Valladeau et al., 2012, Fu and Haines, 2013, Haines et al., 2010, monitor Mean Sea Level change that is recognised as a key indicator of
2020) and ground-based transponders (e.g. Mertikas et al., 2018, Mer climate change. Sentinel-6 mission is designed to address the needs of
tikas et al., 2020). However, some elements such as instrument drift will the European Copernicus programme for precise sea level, near-real-
require a much longer period that could extend to the mission lifetime time measurements of sea surface height, significant wave height, and
(e.g. Cancet et al., 2013). other products tailored to operational services in the climate, ocean,
meteorology and hydrology domains. The mission is implemented
through a unique international partnership with contributions from
NASA, NOAA, ESA, EUMETSAT, and the European Union (EU). It in
cludes two satellites that will fly sequentially (separated in time by 5
years). The first satellite, named Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, was
launched from Vandenburg Air Force Base, USA on 21st November
2020. The Poseidon-4 dual frequency (C/Ku-band) nadir-pointing radar
altimeter provides synthetic aperture radar (SAR) processing in Ku-band
to improve the signal through better along-track sampling and reduced
measurement noise. It includes an innovative interleaved mode enabling
radar data processing on two parallel chains, one with the SAR en
hancements and the other furnishing a Low Resolution Mode that is fully
backward-compatible with the historical T/P and Jason measurements.
This allows a complete inter-calibration between the state-of-the-art
data and the historical record. A three-channel Advanced Microwave
Radiometer for Climate (AMR–C) provides measurements of atmo
spheric water vapour that would otherwise degrade the radar altimeter
measurements. An experimental High Resolution Microwave Radiom
eter (HRMR) is also included in the AMR-C design to support improved
performance in coastal areas. Additional sensors are included in the
payload to provide Precise Orbit Determination, atmospheric sounding
via GNSS-Radio Occultation and radiation monitoring around the
Fig. 21. Antenna Temperature (TA) results obtained from the first AMR-C SCS spacecraft. Preliminary in-orbit performance data from Sentinel-6
motion that was completed on 2nd December 2020 using a diagnostic mode in Michael Freilich are presented and show the primary mission payload
which only 18 and 23 GHz channels are available.
20
to be in line with expected performances. Following commissioning and reflect those of NOAA or the U.S. Government.
tandem-flight operations, the Sentinel-6 mission will become the refer The research described in this paper was carried out, in part, at the
ence satellite altimeter providing unique evidence of sea level rise in European Space Agency, and others (identified in the paper), under
support of European and International climate policy implementation contracts with ESA.
and monitoring. The research described in this paper was carried out, in part, at the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a
Credit author statement contract with NASA.
The research described in this paper was carried out, in part, by
Craig. J. Donlon: Writing of original manuscript, edits, revisions and laboratories and companies, under contracts with CNES.
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The Copernicus Sentinel-6 Mission Enhanced Continuity of Satellite Sea Level Measurements From Space

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Remote Sensing of Environment 258 (2021) 112395

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Remote Sensing of Environment

The Copernicus Sentinel-6 mission: Enhanced continuity of satellite sea

Fig. 1. Mean Sea level estimates computed from

Fig. 2. Sentinel-6 System overview.

Fig. 3. (top (A) and middle (B)) Sentinel-6

coefficient σ0. The Sentinel-6 mission performance simulator (S6MPS)

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