March 7, 2019

France-Israel space cooperation VENUS extends coverage from 108 to 123 sites

CNES and the Israel Space Agency (ISA) have decided, on the basis of scientific proposals, to extend the coverage of the French-Israeli VENµS satellite from 108 sites to 123. Positional adjustments have also been made for the sites already being observed to match them more closely to scientific requirements. Data acquired since the start of the mission are being reprocessed to incorporate a number of enhancements that will significantly increase the number of time-series products available.

Orbited by a Vega launcher from the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in August 2017, VENµS is a scientific satellite developed jointly by CNES and ISA. With its multispectral camera supplied by CNES, the satellite is now observing 123 sites of scientific interest at a resolution of five metres. The selected sites are representative of the Earth’s main natural and crop ecosystems. They are being observed every two days at the same viewing angles and pass times for two and a half years in 12 spectral bands, from the blue to the infrared. The mission has today reached maturity with more than 13,000 products available. VENµS is also carrying the experimental Israeli Hall Effect Thruster (IHET) electric propulsion system.

VENµS data are being used by the international scientific community to study a broad spectrum of ecosystems and environments, chiefly with a view to anticipating the impacts of climate change and identifying mitigation and coping strategies. Most research is focused on agriculture, water resource management, detailed mapping of ecosystems and the role of vegetation in the carbon cycle, but scientists are also taking advantage of the satellite’s revisit rate and image quality to study snow cover, glaciers and coastal zones.

Astrolabe glacier and Dumont d’Urville research base in Antarctica, 14 (above) and 16 December 2018. Sea ice moves fast during summer in the southern hemisphere.

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CONTACTS
Pascale Bresson    Press Officer    Tel: +33 (0)1 44 76 75 39    pascale.bresson@cnes.fr
Raphaël Sart    Press Officer    Tel: +33 (0)1 44 76 74 51    raphael.sart@cnes.fr
Sébastien Martignac    Press Officer    Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 78 35    sebastien.martignac@cnes.fr

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