Introducing CIMR
The Arctic is at the forefront of the climate crisis, experiencing disproportionately higher temperature increases compared to the rest of the world. For example, climate models suggest that by the mid-21st century, the Arctic Ocean will be ice-free during the summer.
Rapid warming is not only destabilising the delicate balance of the Arctic ecosystem, but is also having profound implications for global climate patterns, human populations and wildlife – a phenomenon known as Arctic amplification. Basically, what happens in the Arctic, doesn’t stay in the Arctic.
With the Arctic so susceptible, along with the knock-on effects we will all feel, ESA is developing the Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer (CIMR) mission. It is one of six Copernicus Sentinel Expansion Missions that are set to address EU policy and gaps in Copernicus user needs.
CIMR is designed to monitor global change with a focus on the polar regions. Data from this new mission will support the implementation of solutions for a sustainable Arctic and help combat the effects of climate change worldwide.
The mission comprises a series of two satellites, CIMR-A and CIMR-B, launched sequentially to ensure a mission that endures at least 15 years.
Each satellite carries a conically-scanning multichannel microwave radiometer that delivers dual-polarisation measurements with high spatial resolution and radiometric sensitivity.
This combination provides unprecedented cloud-free measurements of the rapidly changing sea ice, sea-surface temperature, sea-surface salinity and wind speeds over the ocean.
As well as the multitude of different measurements over the Arctic, CIMR is designed to also deliver data products over land including snow parameters, vegetation products, soil moisture and land-surface temperature. Additionally, CIMR will provide measurements of atmospheric precipitation amongst others.
It uses several frequency bands to yield all of these measurements, namely:
- L-band (1.4 GHz) which enables measurements of sea-surface salinity, sea-ice thickness, soil moisture, vegetation parameters, and wind vectors over the ocean
- C-band (6.9 GHz) which enables measurements of sea-surface temperature, land- and ice-surface temperature, and supports sea-ice parameters
- X-band (10.65 GHz) which enables measurements of sea-surface temperature, land and ice-surface temperature, and supports sea ice parameters
- K-band (18.7 GHz) which enables measurements of sea ice and snow parameters
- Ka-band (36.5 GHz) which also enables measurements of sea ice and snow parameters at around 4.5 km spatial resolution
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As well as providing information to help understand how changes in the Arctic are affecting the rest of the world, CIMR also places the Arctic in a global context because it is designed to provide coverage over 95% of the globe every day.
All data products will be delivered to users within three hours of sensing and, in support of Arctic navigation, and some products will even be available within one hour of sensing. As is the case for all Copernicus missions, CIMR data are open and free-of-charge.
CIMR is the result of close collaboration between ESA, the European Commission, European space industry, service providers and data users.
The mission has been designed and built by a consortium of around 60 companies led by Thales Alenia Space in Italy, supported by OHB also in Italy. CIMR’s European Large Deployable Reflector has been developed by High Performance Space Structure Systems and Large Space Structures, both in Germany.
CIMR-A is anticipated to be launched in 2029, and CIMR-B about six years later.
