The Sentinel-5 mission

Operating in a polar orbit, Sentinel-5 delivers daily global data on atmospheric gases and aerosols. Sentinel-5 observations include key air pollutants, essential climate variables, and stratospheric ozone that protects us from ultraviolet radiation.

Globally, outdoor air pollution contributes to more than four million premature deaths annually. Sentinel-5 data support the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, which provides vital information on air pollution, public health, solar energy, greenhouse gases, and climate for the benefit of both citizens and the economy. Additionally, the Copernicus Climate Change Service and the scientific community use Sentinel-5 data for climate research.

The mission’s high-resolution imaging spectrometer operates across seven spectral bands, spanning the ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared and shortwave infrared ranges. Impressively, it can differentiate between 1000 more colours than the human eye. In doing so it detects and measures a host of trace gases, including ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, formaldehyde, glyoxal, carbon monoxide, and methane, as well as aerosols and UV index. Additionally, the instrument will probe the vertical distribution on some of these components.

Sentinel-5 is hosted aboard three MetOp Second Generation A-type weather satellites, working in synergy with other onboard instruments. The deployment on three satellites in sequence ensures continuous atmospheric monitoring for at least 21 years. By virtue of its daily global coverage, Sentinel-5 is complementary to Sentinel-4, which observes atmospheric composition hourly over Europe and North Africa and is carried on the series of geostationary Meteosat Third Generation Sounder satellites.

The Copernicus Sentinel-5 mission is the result of close cooperation between ESA, the European Commission, Eumetsat, industry, service providers and data users. Under the responsibility of ESA, Sentinel-5 was developed by a consortium led by Airbus Defence & Space. The consortium includes about 55 companies from different European countries. Sentinel-5 is operated by Eumetsat, which also handles data processing and distribution.