Excellence with passion
ISAE-SUPAERO researchers contribute to the success of the first images from ESA’s Sentinel 2c observation satellite
Available online :
• The Sentinel 2c Earth observation satellite, launched on September 5 as part of ESA’s Copernicus mission, has delivered its first images.
• This success is due in part to the Image Sensor Research Team (CIMI) at ISAE-SUPAERO, which designed and managed the manufacture of the visible image sensors.
Less than two weeks after its launch on September 5, Sentinel-2c delivered its first images. These spectacular views of our planet provide a glimpse of the data this satellite will supply to Copernicus, the Earth observation program orchestrated by ESA. And ISAE-SUPAERO’s image sensor research team (CIMI) is no stranger to success! It designed the image sensors for the visible and near infrared (visible wavelengths) channels of the Sentinel 2 satellites, in addition to the infrared channel.
The Sentinel 2 satellite series (Sentinel 2a launched in 2015, Sentinel 2b in 2017 and now Sentinel 2c) enables global observation and monitoring of the Earth through high-resolution multispectral images over the entire globe. The collection of data from these satellites, both visible and infrared, makes a significant contribution to issues such as climate change, land monitoring, emergency management and security.
The thirteen spectral bands, ten in the visible wavelengths and three in the infrared wavelengths, are like thirteen scanners that recreate the image as the satellite moves. These bands can be selected and superimposed to reveal a particular feature or points of interest, depending on what we want to study.
The MSI (MultiSpectral Instrument) on board Sentinel 2c takes images in 13 spectral bands ranging from 400 nm to 2 um, with resolutions of 10 m, 20 m and 60 m. “These 13 spectral bands - 10 in visible wavelengths and 3 in infrared wavelengths - are like 13 scanners that recreate the image as the satellite moves, explains Philippe Martin-Gonthier, a researcher at CIMI.
We can select and superimpose these bands to reveal a particular feature or points of interest, depending on what we want to study”. For example, an area burnt during an active fire. The focal plane of the visible channel, which enables the spectral band to be selected, is made up of 12 multilinear sensors to increase the area scanned.
Work begun in 2007
ISAE-SUPAERO’s expertise in this field is not new. It was in 2007 that the CIMI research group began developing the technology used in these sensors, through theses and R&T, as part of a joint laboratory with Airbus Defence & Space (ADS) in response to Earth observation missions. The team from the Institute’s Electronics, Optronics and Signal department has already designed the sensors carried by Sentinel 2c’s predecessors.
And there’s more to come! Sentinel 2c is currently undergoing calibration until December 2024, and the launch of a final satellite, Sentinel 2d, is scheduled for 2025. The group is currently working on the technology that will follow on from these Sentinel 2 satellites with the “Next Generation” Sentinel 2 satellites in the Copernicus program.
