Last week, a new chapter began for the European Earth Observation future, as Ariane 6 brought into orbit significant missions: the European Space Agency – ESA Sentinel-5 UVNS, IASI as well as EUMETSAT 3MI.
Now on orbit, 3MI will deliver unprecedented observations for the aerosol and cloud research community because of its breakthrough technology. All-in-one, the instrument brings:
Multiviewing:
~14 VIS/NIR + ~12 SWIR look angles at ~4 km (vs ~6 km).
↳ tighter scattering phase functions, cleaner surface–atmosphere separation.
Multichannel:
410 nm to ~2.2 µm, adding 1370/1650/2130 nm + O₂-A/H₂O bands.
↳ sharper aerosol type/absorption, better cirrus screening, stronger cloud microphysics.
Multipolarisation:
Polarised measurements into SWIR (1370/1650/2130) at −60°/0°/+60°.
↳ higher sensitivity to refractive index, size/shape, and thin layers—especially over bright land.
GRASP Contribution to 3MI mission
GRASP will be contributing to the mission as the operational processing of 3MI multi-angular polarimeter to deliver detailed:
Aerosol properties:
↳ including: AOD, Angstrom Exponent, SSA, AOD (fine), AOD (coarse)
Surface reflectance properties:
↳ including: BRDF, BPDF
You can discover other related project where GRASP team contributes to deliver optimal aerosol, gases and surface information using 3MI, Sentinel-5 and IASI from MetOp-SG-A on our website and in the following sources:
• https://www.eumetsat.int/3MI-aerosol-retrieval
• https://www.grasp-earth.com/portfolio/grosat/
• https://www.grasp-open.com/
• https://aero.und.edu/atmos/icap/_files/docs/icap-13/day-2/toward-an-operational-nrt-grasp-processor-for-eps-sg-3mi.pdf
Learn more about our projects here
