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DRAGON 4 COOPERATION PROPOSAL,
INFORMATION FOR SCIENTISTS
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ESA & NRSCC
ENVI-DTEX-EOPG-TN-15-027
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October 2015
Technical Note
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Table of contents:
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 5
1
1.1 Purpose and structure of the document ............................................................................................................................5
1.2 Applicable documents ........................................................................................................................................................5
1.3 Reference documents .........................................................................................................................................................5
1.4 List of Acronyms ................................................................................................................................................................6
2
BACKGROUND TO THE DRAGON COOPERATION .......................................................................... 8
2.1 The programme and projects.............................................................................................................................................8
2.2 Dragon 3 cooperation results’ reporting ...........................................................................................................................8
2.3 PI publications ...................................................................................................................................................................8
3
DESCRIPTION OF THE CALL .......................................................................................................... 9
3.1 General conditions of the call ............................................................................................................................................9
3.2 Objectives of the call ........................................................................................................................................................ 12
3.3 Research and development on Dragon 4 topics ............................................................................................................. 12
3.4 Requests for information concerning the call ................................................................................................................. 13
4
OVERVIEW OF AVAILABLE ESA, ESA TPM, COPERNICUS SENTINELS AND CHINESE EO DATA .14
4.1 Historical ESA EO missions ............................................................................................................................................ 14
4.1.1 ERS ................................................................................................................................................................................. 14
4.1.2 ENVISAT ........................................................................................................................................................................ 14
4.1.3 GOCE .............................................................................................................................................................................. 15
4.2 Operational Earth Explorers missions ............................................................................................................................ 16
4.2.1 SMOS.............................................................................................................................................................................. 16
4.2.2 CRYOSAT-2.................................................................................................................................................................... 16
4.2.3 SWARM .......................................................................................................................................................................... 16
4.3 Future Earth Explorers missions..................................................................................................................................... 17
4.3.1 ADM-Aeolus ................................................................................................................................................................... 17
4.3.2 EarthCARE ..................................................................................................................................................................... 17
4.4 Copernicus Sentinels missions ........................................................................................................................................ 17
4.4.1 Sentinel 1 A/B ................................................................................................................................................................ 18
4.4.2 Sentinel 2 A/B ................................................................................................................................................................ 18
4.4.3 Sentinel 3 A/B ................................................................................................................................................................ 18
4.4.4 Sentinels 4 and 5 ............................................................................................................................................................ 18
4.4.5 Sentinel 6 ....................................................................................................................................................................... 18
4.5 ESA TPM missions ........................................................................................................................................................... 18
4.5.1 ALOS-1 ........................................................................................................................................................................... 19
4.5.2 COSMO-SkyMed ............................................................................................................................................................ 19
4.5.3 PROBA-V........................................................................................................................................................................ 19
4.5.4 RapidEye ........................................................................................................................................................................ 19
4.6 Chinese EO data .............................................................................................................................................................. 20
4.6.1 HJ-1 ............................................................................................................................................................................... 20
4.6.2 HY-1 & 2 ........................................................................................................................................................................ 20
4.6.3 FY Series ........................................................................................................................................................................ 20
4.6.4 CBERS-04 ......................................................................................................................................................................22
4.6.5 Beijing-1 & 2 ...................................................................................................................................................................22
4.6.6 Jilin-1 ..............................................................................................................................................................................23
4.6.7 CFOSAT ..........................................................................................................................................................................23
4.6.8 TanSat ............................................................................................................................................................................23
4.6.9 GF-1 ................................................................................................................................................................................23
4.6.10 GF-3, 4 &5 ......................................................................................................................................................................23
5
SUBMISSION & EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS ............................................................................ 24
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5.1 Proposal submission ........................................................................................................................................................24
5.2 Review Panel and procedures ..........................................................................................................................................24
5.3 Evaluation criteria ............................................................................................................................................................24
5.4 Follow-on actions and activities ......................................................................................................................................25
6
SCHEDULE ................................................................................................................................... 25
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1
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Purpose and structure of the document
ESA, together with the National Remote Sensing Center of China (NRSCC), an entity under the Ministry of Science and
Technology (MOST) of the P.R. China, have cooperated in the field of Earth observation application development for the
last 20 years. This cooperation has been successively strengthened by the creation of dedicated joint Earth Observation
cooperation called the Dragon Cooperation. There have been the following 4 years programmes to date. Dragon 1 (20042008) and Dragon 2 (2008 – 2012) and Dragon 3 (2012 – 2016).
A strong interest has been expressed by all parties to continue and further strengthen the successful cooperation between
Europe and China under the framework of Dragon. Therefore a call for follow-on cooperation between ESA and MOST
called Dragon 4 is proposed in this document.
Chapter 1 outlines the purpose of this document and provides lists of relevant documents and abbreviations;
Chapter 2 provides background to the call
Chapter 3 illustrates the opportunity, including conditions and objectives;
Chapter 4 provides an overview of the missions and sensors whose products are offered through this call for proposals;
Chapter 5 illustrates the submission and evaluation procedures;
Chapter 6 provides an overview of the call schedule.
1.2
[A1]
[A2]
[A3]
[A4]
[A5]
1.3
[R1]
[R2]
[R3]
[R4]
Applicable documents
ESA data policy for ERS, Envisat and Earth Explorer missions
https://earth.esa.int/c/document_library/get_file?folderId=296006&name=DLFE-3602.pdf
Legal notice on the use of Copernicus Sentinel Data and Service Information
https://sentinel.esa.int/documents/247904/690755/Sentinel_Data_Terms_and_Conditions
Terms and Conditions for the Utilisation of ESA’s Earth Observation Data
https://earth.esa.int/files/terms
List of free ESA EO data sets
https://earth.esa.int/files/regproducts
Terms and Conditions for the Utilisation of Data under ESA’s Third Party Missions scheme – check which
specific to Dragon 4, this T&C as covers all TPM data
https://earth.esa.int/files/TPMterms
Reference documents
The Dragon 3 Programme website (http://dragon3.esa.int)
2013 Dragon 3 Programme Brochure (https://dragon3.esa.int)
Dragon 10 years of cooperation brochure
https://dragon3.esa.int/documents/163802/523346/Dragon_cooperation_10_years
Proceedings of Dragon 3 Mid-Term Results Symposium ESA SP-724, ISBN 978-92-9092-288-9 ISSN 1609042X
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1.4
List of Acronyms
Acronym
AATSR
ATSR
ADEN
ADM Aeolus
ALOS
AO
AOI
ASAR
ASCAT
AVNIR-2
Beijing-1
Beijing-2
CBERS 4
CFOSAT
Copernicus programme
COSMO-SkyMed
CRYOSAT-2
DORIS
EarthCARE
ENVISAT
ELP
EO
ERS
ESA
FY
GF- 1 to 5
GMES
GOCE
GOME
GOMOS
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Definition
Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer
Along Track Scanning Radiometer
ALOS Data European Node
ESA Earth Explorer Atmospheric Dynamics Mission (ADM-Aeolus) will provide
global observations of wind profiles from space
Advanced Land Observing Satellite operated by JAXA
Announcement of Opportunity
Area(s) of Interest – a geographical region or area located by geo-coordinates
Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar on board Envisat
Advanced SCATterometer on the Metop-1 polar orbiting satellite
ALOS Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2
Commercial micro-satellite with high resolution panchromatic (4m) and multispectral imaging sensors (32m), launched in October 2005 and stopped to provide
data in 2012
Commercial micro-satellite constellation consisting of three microsatellites with high
resolution panchromatic (1m) and multi-spectral imaging sensors (4m), launched in
2015 with life expectancy of 7 years
CBERS-4 is an Earth Resources Satellite jointly developed by China and Brazil. It was
launched successfully on 7th Dec., 2014
CFOSAT is a Sino-French collaboration satellite ocean wave and wind measurement,
it is scheduled to be launched on June 2018
Previously known as GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security), is the
European Programme for the establishment of a European capacity for Earth
Observation employing Sentinels satellites
COnstellation of small Satellites for the Mediterranean basin Observation. Series of
4 X-band SAR satellites flying in constellation and operated by Agenzia Spaziale
Italiana
ESA Explorer satellite - CryoSat-2 carries a sophisticated radar altimeter to measure
ice thickness and variations
Doppler Orbitography and Radio-positioning Integrated by Satellite instrument is a
microwave tracking system that can be utilized to determine the precise location of
satellites
EarthCARE is a joint European-Japanese mission addressing the need for a better
understanding of the interactions between cloud, radiative and aerosol processes
ENVIronment SATellite
ESA’s Living Planet Programme, which comprises a science and research element,
which includes the Earth Explorer missions. The operational element is Earth Watch.
Earth Observation
European Remote Sensing Satellite of which there were 2
European Space Agency
Polar orbiting and geo-stationary meteorological satellites of china
They are some satellites to be planned to launched in high-resolution earth observing
system of China, their payloads include optical and SAR sensors for NRT applications
Global Monitoring for Environment and Security
Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer
Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment
Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars
ESA UNCLASSIFIED – For Official Use
Acronym
HJ
HY
JAXA
Jilin-1
LI
MERIS
MIPAS
MIRAS
MOST China
MWR
NRSCC
NRT
OceanSat-2
PI
PALSAR
PRISM
PROBA-V
RA
RapidEye
SAR
S1-A/B
S2-A/B
S3-A/B
SCIAMACHY
SMOS
SWARM
SSO
TanSat
TerraSAR-X
TPM
WS
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Definition
Chinese optical and SAR satellite constellation for environment and disaster
monitoring. The two optical satellites HJ-1-A and HJ-1-B were launched in 2008.
The HJ-1-C SAR was launched in 2012 and was only operational for a short period.
Chinese Ocean Satellites, including HY-1A/B and HY-2
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
A china's self-developed remote sensing satellite for commercial use, it was launched
in October 2015
Lead Investigator for the purpose of this AO. LI(s) shall coordinate a project’s
proposal, teaming and research objectives
MEdium Resolution Imaging Specrometer Instrument
Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding
Microwave Imaging Radiometer using Aperture Synthesis
Ministry of Science and Technology, China
MicroWave Radiometer
National Remote Sensing Center of China
Near Real Time
Satellite with an Ocean Colour Monitor instrument operated by the Indian Space
Research Organization
Principal Investigator
ALOS Phased Array L-band SAR
ALOS Panchromatic Remote sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping
Project for On-Board Autonomy – Vegetation (improved smaller version of the large
VGT (Vegetation) optical instrument of SPOT-4 and SPOT-5 missions)
Radar Altimeter
A constellation of five mini satellites that can acquire and process up to 5 million km2
of imagery daily to generate unique land information products
Synthetic Aperture Radar
Sentinel 1 A & B satellites with a C-band SAR sensor
Sentinel 2 A & B satellites with an optical imager
Sentinel 3 A & B satellites with optical and thermal radiometers, a SAR altimeter and
a MWR
SCanning Imaging Absorption SpectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY
ESA Earth Explorer satellite – Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity
ESA Earth Explorer Satellites - The Swarm mission will provide measurements of the
Earth’s geomagnetic field simultaneously over different regions of the globe
ESA Single Sign on Account to access the proposal submission template
A China’s satellite constellation to measure methane and carbon dioxide levels in the
atmosphere
TerraSAR-X1 (also referred to as TSX or TSX-1) is a German SAR satellite mission
for scientific and commercial applications
Third Party Mission
Wind Scatterometer
ESA UNCLASSIFIED – For Official Use
2
BACKGROUND TO THE DRAGON COOPERATION
2.1
The programme and projects
ESA, together with NRSCC, have cooperated in the field of Earth observation application development for the last 20
years. The 1st Dragon cooperation started in 2004 with a 4 year programme dedicated to ESA EO data exploitation. A 2nd
4 year programme followed in 2008 and lasted 4 years (Dragon 2) and concerned the exploitation of ESA, and TPM data.
The 3rd programme (Dragon 3), started in 2012 and focuses on science and applications development in P.R. China using
ESA, TPM and Chinese EO data. There are 51 projects that are supported with EO data for exploitation in P.R. China
covering land, ocean, atmospheric, climate,, hydrology and solid earth applications. For a full listing of the projects and
thematic domains covered see [R1]. In both Europe and China, young scientists undertake research and receive training
in land, ocean and atmospheric remote sensing. See [R1], [R2] and [R3] for further programme, teaming, projects and
results information.
In all phases of the ESA member states and MOST/NRSCC have been kept informed on progress with regular reporting
and 2 Dragon brochures have been published in 2013 and 2014 respectively and which are available for download [R2]
[R3] – Documentation.
2.2
Dragon 3 cooperation results’ reporting
The results of the current Dragon 3 programme have been presented at annual Symposia which took place consecutively
between Europe and China. At these Symposia, the projects’ PIs and young scientists have presented their research
results. The Beijing Symposium held in 2012 was the formal start of the Dragon 3 cooperation and was attended by 375
participants from Europe and P.R. China. The second Symposium was held in Palermo, Italy in 2013 and was attended by
186 scientists. The 2014 mid-term results Symposium was held in Chengdu, P.R. China. There were 336 scientists in
attendance. The fourth Symposium in 2015 was held in Interlaken, Switzerland and was attended by 250 scientists from
Europe and China. Also special dedicated Dragon 3 sessions have been organised at leading international conferences and
Symposia. A special session was held at the 2013 ISRSE-35 meeting in Beijing where Chinese PIs presented latest results
on land remote sensing. In the same year, a session on atmosphere and ocean remote sensing was organised at the ESA
Living Planet Symposium held in the UK. In 2015, a special Dragon session was presented at ISRSE-36 in Berlin,
Germany. The outcome has been presentation of the Dragon results to the wider scientific community and publication of
the Dragon teams results in leading EO science Symposia proceedings.
2.3
PI publications
In 2014, the 10 years’ scientific results of Dragon have been published as a brochure (http://dragon3.esa.int). This
brochure details the achievements in terms of EO data delivery, publications, Symposia, training and scientific results
since the start of Dragon 1 in 2004. The mid-term results of the Dragon 3 cooperation have been published in 2014 as
ESA SP-724, ”Proceedings of Dragon 3 programme mid-term results Symposium”. The project teams are also publishing
results in leading scientific journals, e.g. Remote Sensing of Environment and the International Journal of Remote
Sensing. ESA and NRSCC have also organized reporting sessions at major scientific Symposia and conferences, such as
ISRSE-35 (2013), ESA Living Planet Symposium (2013) and ISRSE-36 (2015). The Dragon 3 cooperation final results
papers will be published as an ESA Special Publication (SP) in September 2016. The final symposium for the Dragon 3
cooperation will take place in Wuhan, Hubei Province, P.R. China, from 4 July to 8 July 2016 with high level
representatives from Europe and China.
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3
DESCRIPTION OF THE CALL
3.1
General conditions of the call
The European Space Agency (ESA) jointly with The National Remote Sensing Center of China (NRSCC) under the
Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), announce the opportunity to conduct research and application development
projects using ESA, Copernicus Sentinels, ESA Third Party Missions and Chinese EO data.
Proposals should be submitted via the dedicated web site at https://earth.esa.int/aos/dragon4
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
This call for proposals is open from 29 October 2015
The submission deadline is 18:00, 29 January 2016
The applicable period for the Dragon 4 cooperation EO data delivery is from July 2016 to June
2020
For the European PIs, the funding of the projects would start on 1.1.2017 once funding has been
secured at the Council of MINisters meeting (CMIN-16)
The proposal of an integrated project led by a Chinese and a European Lead Investigator(LI)
shall be submitted, a proposal of a small and single project like a dragon 3 project is not expected
The proposed project may belong to a theme and topics listed in table 3
A research proposal may also consist of several research topics listed in table 3, spanning
different themes
ESA/NRSCC may decide to select only a portion of the proposer’s investigation, in which case the investigator will be
given the opportunity to accept or decline such partial acceptance. An accepted project for only a single topic in a theme
after review may be requested to be merged into an integrated project.
Access to the EO data sets necessary to execute the projects will then be provided to the selected Principal Investigators
free of charge and for the requested ESA Third Party Missions and Chinese Missions data within data access agreements
and data availability.
The progress and accomplishments of the selected projects will be monitored by ESA/NRSCC. All selected Principal
Investigators will be required to submit periodic progress reports or publications in the Dragon 4 annual Symposia
describing the status of their project and to prepare papers for publication in English at the mid-term stage (i.e. June
2018) and at the end of the Dragon 4 applicable period (i.e. June 2020). PIs shall also present their results at a limited
number of specialised workshops or symposia organised by ESA and NRSCC.
As for Dragon 3 programme it is assumed that the selected projects will be funded by sources outside of ESA. MOST and
NRSCC, in a joint effort with ESA, will organize dedicated workshops devoted to the results presentation of the selected
projects. The final symposium for the Dragon 3 cooperation will take place in Wuhan, Hubei Province, P.R. China, from 4
to 8 July 2016 with high level representatives from Europe and China.
The call will provide opportunities for scientists from Europe and China to cooperate for the exploitation of Chinese, ESA
and ESA TPM EO data in P.R. China, and at other regional and global scales. It is expected that the projects will be
managed through bilateral cooperation agreements between the Chinese and the European Partners. Proposals are
invited which cover the exploitation of products for research and development of applications for EO data analysis, EO
data shall include some or all of the following sources:
•
•
•
•
ESA EO missions’ data both archive and operational (i.e. ERS, Envisat, Earth Explorers, EarthwatchProbaV, see section 4.1, 4.2 & 4.3 of this document)
Copernicus Sentinels missions’ data via the Sentinels Scientific/Open access Data Hub (see section 4.4 )
Third Party Missions’ data, provided by ESA (see section 4.5 of this document)
Chinese EO missions’ data (see section 4.6 of this document).
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Proposals should carefully consider the formation of joint Sino-European teams and it would be expected that partner
institutions in both Europe and China would be engaged. The project should seek to train young post graduate scientists
and it is expected that the co-investigators’ list should indicate the inclusion of young scientists and to indicate the level of
post graduate training that will be provided (i.e. Masters, doctorate degrees or post doctorate research).
Continuity proposals on the thematic areas of Dragon 3 projects are welcome, inviting research continuity and
exploitation of new ESA, Copernicus Sentinels, Third Party Mission and Chinese EO missions’ data. For an overview of
Dragon 3 projects and achievements, please refer to [R1]. However, given the objective to reduce the number of proposals
to 20 projects when compared to Dragon 3, it should be noted that teaming on both European and Chinese side is
strongly encouraged in order to reduce overlap in research aims and objectives with the partners taking responsibility for
individual research packages as opposed to duplicating research effort. Each project will be led by a European and
Chinese Lead Investigator (LI) who will be responsible for ensuring a research proposal is structured into research
packages, coordinated with a management plan, and that research progress is reported an annual basis. The proposal
shall therefore inform on the proposed teaming including the team’s lead investigators on both European and Chinese
side and coordinating the activities of several Principal Investigators with distinct research proposals.
Organisation of a project’s proposal
For a specific theme in table 3, each topic shall be led by at most 2 Lead Investigators (LIs), one from Europe and one
from China. Lead investors may also submit themselves a topic’s research proposal as a principal investigator but also will
be expected to coordinate, manage and submit the full proposal.
Lead Investigators tasks vs Principal Investigators tasks
The information flows necessary to complete a proposal are summarised in Figure 1. Table 1 provides the main tasks
required to submit a proposal. The proposal shall be completed on-line by 1 Lead Investigator. All information pertinent
to a proposal shall be included by submitting the proposal. Nb. The Lead Investigator shall create or have created an ESA
Single Sign On account to be able to access the submission forms.
https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/general-registration (Register to create a new EO SSO account)
https://earth.esa.int/aos/dragon4 (with an EO SSO account) click on Submit a project proposal for Dragon 4
Figure 1. Information to be completed and provided for submission of a Dragon 4 proposal using the online submission system
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Table 1. Tasks, responsibility for completion, and tasks’ description for submission of a Dragon 4
proposal (N.B. Task 1, 2 and 5 are of short duration (i.e. minutes) to complete. The main body of the
proposal submission are tasks 3 and 4)
Summary of the lead investigator(s) tasks:
•
Provide the contact details of the 2 LIs
•
Identify the theme and topic to be addressed under the Dragon 4 AO (from tables 2 and 3 in this document)
•
Distribute the sub research topic template to the principal investigators in the selected theme and topic
•
Collect the .pdf of sub research topic proposals submitted by other Principal or Co-investigators
•
Provide an overall management plan, detailing the schedule of the research proposals, the deliverables at each
stage, reporting at annual Dragon Symposia, down load & complete the total EO data requirements document
(“Dragon4-total-EOdata-requirements.pdf”)
•
LIs will need to organise the distribution of travel grants for European LIs, PIs or Co-PIs to attend annual
Symposia. A provision list of PIs and Co-PIs attendance shall be provided for each of years 2017, 2018, 2019 and
2020.
•
Organisation of reporting: reporting shall include the presentations, papers or posters to be presented or
submitted at Dragon annual Symposia (note that the at the mid-term and at the end of the Dragon 4, results
shall be published as an ESA Special Publication (ESA SP) and there will be a call for papers for publication as
proceedings
•
Inform on the distribution of ESA funding support for training of young scientists to obtain post graduate levels
degrees. The results reporting at annual Symposia shall be provided, either as presentations, papers submitted
to ESA SPs. On the European side, each project (i.e. a topic in table 2), may expect to receive an ESA award to
support 1 Ph.D. level candidate or 3 Master of Science candidates or a maximum of 2 post doctorates.
•
LIs shall up-load the .pdf of the PIs research proposals using the file up-load facility in the on-line submission
system and the total EO data requirements for the full proposal
•
LIs shall create and up-load a .kmz file containing all of the Areas of Interest for the full proposal
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Principal or Co-Investigators’ tasks
For a specific research objective related to a topic (see table 3), PIs and Co-PIs shall complete a research proposal
template provided (hyperlink to .pdf). On completion, the PIs shall provide their research proposal (.pdf) to the project’s
LI for up-load into the system. The template requires the following information to be provided:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
3.2
Team Composition & Experience
Location
Executive summary
Contribution and training of Young Scientists
Innovative character of the proposal and contribution to the objectives of the Dragon 4 Call
Detailed Description
Schedule
Expected results
ESA, ESA TPM, Copernicus Sentinels and Chinese EO Data Requirements
Other Data used
Objectives of the call
The main objectives of this announcement of opportunity are:
•
•
•
•
3.3
Promote the exploitation of ESA and Chinese EO data
- for science and application development
Stimulate scientific exchange
- by the formation of joint Sino-European teams
- academic exchanges particularly Young Scientists
Publish co-authored results
- in ESA-NRSCC joint results publication (2014) & (2016)
- in leading scientific journals
Provide training to young European and Chinese scientists
Research and development on Dragon 4 topics
Proposals from Sino-European teams will be invited that will address the following Dragon 4 themes identified by MOST
and ESA. Compared to previous Dragon cooperation programmes (i.e. Dragon 1 to 3), the proposed themes have been realigned in order to better reflect key societal issues and the need to relate the science component to other initiatives, e.g.
UN sustainable development goals, GEO societal benefit areas and the new ESA EO science strategy, as shown in the
table below. The target number of projects is 20 with grouping of the scientists to reach the objectives. Continuity of
Dragon 1/2/ and 3 projects will be considered.
Themes for Dragon 4
Atmosphere, climate & carbon cycle
Agriculture, food & water
Urbanization & smart cities
Ecosystems including forest and grasslands
Oceans & coastal zones
Solid Earth & associated disaster risk reduction
Hydrology and cryosphere
Calibration/Validation
Table 2. Dragon 4 themes
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Table 2 shows the themes for EO science and application investigation under this call. Table 3 provides details on the
topics to be addressed under each theme. Investigators are requested to consider proposals covering any of the themes
and topics.
Theme
Topics
•
Air quality
Atmosphere, climate
•
Climate
& carbon cycle
•
Atmospheric composition and dynamics
•
Wet and dry land crops mapping, retrievals & yield prediction
Improved grassland productivity and dynamics
Agriculture, •
food & water •
Water availability
•
Food security
•
2D & 3D urban & infrastructures mapping & change detection
Urbanization
•
Urban climate & environment
& smart cities
•
Cities management & information services
•
Forest bio-physical retrievals and changes, mapping forest extents
Ecosystems including
•
3D structure methods and research
forest & grasslands
•
Natural grasslands productivity & changes
•
Ocean bio-physical products, dynamics & climatology
Oceans &
•
Coastal Zones & hinterlands bio-physical products, dynamics & climatology
coastal zones
•
Coastal zones protection
•
Seismology and fault zones Himalayas
Solid Earth &
•
DEMs, landslides, subsidence & infrastructure
associated disaster
•
Gravity field & geoid
risk reduction
•
Magnetic field
•
Cryosphere monitoring, snow, ice, glaciers & parameters
Hydrology &
•
Hydrology products and river basins monitoring
cryosphere
•
Wetlands and ecology
CAL/VAL •
Cooperation on atmospheric, optical, thermal, microwave data CAL / VAL
Table 3. Proposed themes and topics for science and application development under Dragon 4
3.4
Requests for information concerning the call
Further information regarding this call may be found on the dedicated website (https://earth.esa.int/aos/dragon4) and
also from the ESA EOPI and DRAGON team (fax: +39 06 94180 552 e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]).
In P.R. China email and telephone assistance will be available for the call duration from Prof. Gao Zhihai (Tel: +86-1062888307, email: [email protected], [email protected].)
The ESA EOPI team is ready to distribute printed versions of existing documentation as required upon request.
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4
OVERVIEW OF AVAILABLE ESA, ESA TPM, COPERNICUS
SENTINELS AND CHINESE EO DATA
The Principal Investigator (PI) is expected to evaluate his/her data requirements thoroughly, both in terms of quantities
and types. Apart from the Senintels missions with no quota restriction, the provision of other EO data could be subject to
priorities for scheduling and operating the sensors and to the capacities and constraints of the ground segment.
4.1
4.1.1
Historical ESA EO missions
ERS
Archive products derived from the following instruments on-board the ERS-1 (launched in 1991 and ended on 10 March
2000) and ERS-2 (launched in 1995 and retired on 5 September 2011) satellites can be made available to this
opportunity:
• Active Microwave Instrument (AMI). It operates in C-band (5.3 GHz) and combines the functions of a
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and a Wind Scatterometer (WS). Through its set of four antennae (three for
the Scatterometer and one for the SAR), the Earth's surface is illuminated and the backscattered energy is
received to produce data on wind fields and wave spectra, and to prepare high resolution images. Three modes of
operation are possible: the image mode (SAR), the wave mode (SAR) and the wind mode (WS).
• Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR). It consists of two instruments, an Infra-Red Radiometer (IRR)
and a Microwave Sounder (MWS). On board ERS-1 the IRR is a four-channel infra-red radiometer used for
measuring sea-surface temperatures (SST) and cloud-top temperatures, whereas on board ERS-2 the IRR is
equipped with additional visible channels for vegetation monitoring. The MWS is a two channel passive
radiometer.
• Radar Altimeter (RA). It is a Ku-band (13.8 GHz) nadir-pointing active microwave sensor designed to
measure the time return echoes from ocean and ice surfaces. Functioning in one of two operational modes
(ocean or ice) the Radar Altimeter provides information on significant wave height; surface wind speed; sea
surface elevation, which relates to ocean currents, the surface geoid and tides; and various parameters over sea
ice and ice sheets.
• Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME). It is a nadir-scanning ultraviolet and visible spectrometer
for global monitoring of atmospheric Ozone on-board ERS-2. A key feature of GOME is its ability to detect other
chemically active atmospheric trace-gases as well as aerosol distribution.
A detailed description of available ERS data products is provided at:
https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/missions/esa-operational-eo-missions/ers
https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/data-access/browse-data-products?selectedTags=ers
4.1.2
ENVISAT
Archive products derived from the following instruments onboard the ENVISAT satellite mission (launched in 2002 and
ended in 2012) can be made available under this call:
•
MEdium Resolution Imaging Specrometer Instrument (MERIS). It measures the solar radiation
reflected by the Earth, at a ground spatial resolution of 300m and 1200m, in 15 spectral bands, programmable in
width and position, in the visible and near infra-red. It allows global coverage of the Earth in 3 days.
•
Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) It operates at C-band and ensures continuity with the image
mode (SAR) and the wave mode of the ERS-1/2 AMI. It features enhanced capability in terms of coverage, range
of incidence angles, polarisation, and modes of operation. This enhanced capability is provided by significant
differences in the instrument design: a full active array antenna equipped with distributed transmit/receive
modules which provides distinct transmit and receive beams, a digital waveform generation for pulse "chirp"
generation, a block adaptive quantisation scheme, and a ScanSAR mode of operation by beam scanning in
elevation.
•
Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR). Its main goal is to establish continuity of the
ATSR-1 and ATSR-2 data sets of precise sea surface temperature (SST), thereby ensuring the production of a
unique 10 year near-continuous data set at the levels of accuracy required (0.3 K or better) for climate research
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•
•
•
•
and for the community of operational as well as scientific users who will have been developed through the ERS-1
and ERS-2 missions.
Radar Altimeter 2 (RA-2). It is an instrument for determining the two-way delay of the radar echo from the
Earth's surface to a very high precision: less than a nanosecond. It also measures the power and the shape of the
reflected radar pulses. Its measurements are used to determine the ocean topography, to map and monitor sea
ice, polar ice sheets, and most land surfaces. Measurement of the radar echo power and shape enables the
determination of wind speed and significant wave height at sea, thus supporting weather and sea state
forecasting
Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS). It is a Fourier transform
spectrometer for the measurement of high-resolution gaseous emission spectra at the Earth's limb. It operates in
the near to mid infrared where many of the atmospheric trace-gases playing a major role in atmospheric
chemistry have important emission features
Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars (GOMOS). It is the newest ESA instrument aiming at
ozone monitoring. It is a tool to provide altitude-resolved global ozone mapping and trend monitoring with very
high accuracy, as needed for the understanding of ozone chemistry and for model validation.
SCanning Imaging Absorption SpectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY (SCIAMACHY). Its
primary mission objective is to perform global measurements of trace gases in the troposphere and in the
stratosphere
No restrictions are envisaged for those instruments providing a systematic flow of data and available on-line (e.g.
MERIS, AATSR, Altimeter). See the following link for the full list of these products and fast registration procedure to
access them:
https://earth.esa.int/aos/registration
https://earth.esa.int/files/regproducts
For restrained instrument data (e.g. ASAR and SAR HR mode), PIs will be given a ceiling quota compatible with the
project needs and ESA’s acquisition/production capacity. Products will then be ordered through the ESA on-line
catalogue EOLI-SA. https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/eoli . Dragon PIs will be provided with their own user accounts to
order restrained ESA products through EOLI-SA.
A
detailed
description
of
available
ENVISAT
data
products
is
provided
https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/data-access/browse-data-products?selectedTags=envisat .
4.1.3
at
the
address:
GOCE
The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) was launched on 17 March 2009 and ceased
operation on 11 November 2014. GOCE was dedicated to measuring the Earth’s gravity field and modelling the Earth’s
geoid with extremely high accuracy and spatial resolution.
•
The GOCE Gradiometer measured gravity gradients in all spatial directions. The measured signal is the
difference in gravitational acceleration at the test-mass location inside the spacecraft caused by gravity
anomalies from attracting masses of the Earth.
Access to GOCE data can be made following user registration on-line at:
https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/pi-community/apply-for-data/fast-registration
Data will be delivered free of charge for a nominal period of 4 years, and Dragon 4 project leaders will be requested to
accept on-line the ESA Terms and Conditions for data use prior to data delivery.
More information about the GOCE mission is available at:
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/The_Living_Planet_Programme/Earth_Explorers/GOCE
https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/missions/esa-operational-eo-missions/goce .
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4.2.1
Operational Earth Explorers missions
SMOS
The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission has been designed to observe soil moisture over the Earth's
landmasses and salinity over the oceans. The satellite was launched on 2 November 2009.
•
The main instrument is the Microwave Imaging Radiometer using Aperture Synthesis (MIRAS) which
is an interferometric radiometer, operating between 1400-1427 MHz (L-band).
Access to SMOS data can be made following user registration on-line at:
https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/pi-community/apply-for-data/fast-registration
Data will be delivered free of charge for a nominal period of 4 years, and Dragon 4 project leaders will be requested to
accept on-line the ESA Terms and Conditions for data use prior to data delivery.
More information about the SMOS mission is available at:
https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/missions/esa-operational-eo-missions/smos
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/The_Living_Planet_Programme/Earth_Explorers/SMOS .
4.2.2 CRYOSAT-2
ESA’s Earth Explorer CryoSat-2 mission, launched on 8 April 2010, is dedicated to precise monitoring of the changes in
the thickness of marine ice floating in the polar oceans and variations in the thickness of the vast ice sheets that overlie
Greenland and Antarctica.
•
CryoSat-2's primary payload is the SAR/Interferometric Radar Altimeter (SIRAL), which has extended
capabilities to meet the measurement requirements for ice-sheet elevation and sea-ice freeboard.
Access to Cryosat-2 data can be made following user registration on-line at:
https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/pi-community/apply-for-data/fast-registration
Data will be delivered free of charge for a nominal period of 4 years, and Dragon 4 project leaders will be requested to
accept on-line the ESA Terms and Conditions for data use prior to data delivery.
More information about the CRYOSAT-2 mission is available at:
https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/missions/esa-operational-eo-missions/cryosat ,
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/The_Living_Planet_Programme/Earth_Explorers/CryoSat-2
4.2.3 SWARM
The Swarm mission is a constellation of three satellites carrying a new generation of magnetometers enabling
measurements to be taken over different regions of the Earth simultaneously. Swarm also provides monitoring of the
time-variability aspects of the geomagnetic field, this is a great improvement on the current method of extrapolation
based on statistics and ground observations. The geomagnetic field models resulting from the Swarm mission will further
our understanding of atmospheric processes related to climate and weather and will also have practical applications in
many different areas, such as space weather and radiation hazards. The satellites were launched on 22 November 2013.
•
Each satellite is carrying a science payload consisting of the following instruments: Absolute Scalar
Magnetometer (ASM); Vector Field Magnetometer (VFM); Electrical Field Instrument (EFI);
Accelerometer (ACC); Laser Retro Reflector (LRR)
Access to SWARM data can be made following user registration on-line at:
https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/pi-community/apply-for-data/fast-registration
Data will be delivered free of charge for a nominal period of 4 years, and Dragon 4 project leaders will be requested to
accept on-line the ESA Terms and Conditions for data use prior to data delivery.
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More information about the SWARM mission is available at:
https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/missions/esa-operational-eo-missions/swarm
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/The_Living_Planet_Programme/Earth_Explorers/Swarm
4.3
4.3.1
Future Earth Explorers missions
ADM-Aeolus
ESA’s Explorer Atmospheric Dynamics Mission-Aeolus satellite, will create a series of consistent global wind profiles for
the first time (about 100 per hour), giving meteorologists better information with which to predict the weather. The
unique location of a satellite, in orbit around the Earth, means that ADM-Aeolus will be able to provide wind profiles for
the entire planet, including remote areas lacking any ground-based weather station. The satellite is due for launch in
2017.
•
The core space element of ADM-Aeolus is ALADIN (Atmospheric Laser Doppler Instrument), a direct
detection LIDAR incorporating a fringe-imaging receiver (analysing aerosol and cloud backscatter) and a
double-edge receiver (analysing molecular backscatter).
Access to data is to be confirmed following successful launch and operation of the satellite.
More information about ADM-Aeolus mission is available at:
https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/missions/esa-future-missions/adm-aeolus
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/The_Living_Planet_Programme/Earth_Explorers/ADMAeolus
4.3.2 EarthCARE
The EarthCARE mission aims to improve the representation and understanding of the Earth's radiative balance in climate
and numerical weather forecast models by acquiring vertical profiles of clouds and aerosols, as well as the radiances at the
top of the atmosphere. The satellite is to be launched in 2018.
•
The satellite will carry the following instruments: Backscatter Lidar (ATLID) - ESA High-spectral
resolution and depolarisation; Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) - JAXA/NICT -36 dBZ sensitivity,
500 m vertical range, Doppler; Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI) - ESA 7 channels, 150 km swath, 500
m pixel; Broadband Radiometer (BBR) - ESA 2 channels, 3 views (nadir, fore and aft)
Access to data is to be confirmed following successful launch and operation of the satellite.
More information about the EarthCARE mission is available at:
https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/missions/esa-future-missions/earthcare
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/The_Living_Planet_Programme/Earth_Explorers/EarthCARE
4.4
Copernicus Sentinels missions
ESA is developing a suite of new mission families called Sentinels, which aim to serve both the observational needs of the
European Copernicus programme, as well as broader requirements for climate monitoring and prediction. Sentinels
products will be made available to the Dragon 4 teams in agreement with the Legal notice on the use of Copernicus
Sentinel Data and Service Information. Data dissemination will be provided online via the standard
scientific/open access data hub mechanism, via user self-registration.
Further information about Sentinel missions, products and on-line access to data can be found at:
https://sentinel.esa.int/web/sentinel/home
https://scihub.esa.int/
The Sentinels missions include the following.
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4.4.1
Sentinel 1 A/B
The C-band SAR Sentinel-1 mission for land and ocean services. Sentinel-1 A was launched on 3 April 2014. S1-B is
scheduled
for
launch
in
2016).
The
Sentinel-1
observation
scenario
available
at:
https://sentinel.esa.int/web/sentinel/missions/sentinel-1/observation-scenario
More information about Sentinel-1 data and products available at:
https://sentinel.esa.int/web/sentinel/user-guides/sentinel-1-sar
4.4.2 Sentinel 2 A/B
The high-resolution optical imaging Sentinel-2 mission carries a Multi-spectral Imager (MSI) for land services . Sentinel2 A was launched on 23 June 2015. S2-B is scheduled to be launched in 2016). More information about Sentinel-2 data
and products available at :
https://sentinel.esa.int/web/sentinel/user-guides/sentinel-2-msi
4.4.3 Sentinel 3 A/B
Sentinel-3 carries an altimeter, optical and infrared radiometers for ocean and global land monitoring (OLCI) and a
thermal infrared radiometer (SLSTR). (Launch for Sentinel-3 A-B (2015/2017). More information about Sentinel-3 data
and products is available at :
https://sentinel.esa.int/web/sentinel/user-guides/sentinel-3-olci
https://sentinel.esa.int/web/sentinel/user-guides/sentinel-3-slstr
4.4.4 Sentinels 4 and 5
Sentinel-4 and Sentinel-5 for atmospheric composition monitoring from geostationary and polar orbits, respectively
(Launch for Sentinel-4 geostationary atmospheric (2019), Launch for Sentinel-5 Precursor (2016). More information
about Sentinel 4 and Sentinel 5p missions and products is available at:
https://sentinel.esa.int/web/sentinel/missions/sentinel-4
https://sentinel.esa.int/web/sentinel/user-guides/sentinel-5p-tropomi/introduction
4.4.5 Sentinel 6
Sentinel-6 carries a radar altimeter to provide high-precision and timely observations of the topography of the global
ocean. This information is essential for the continued monitoring of changes in sea level, a key indicator of climate
change. It is also essential for operational oceanography. Mapping up to 95% of Earth’s ice-free ocean every 10 days, it
offers vital information on ocean currents, wind speed and wave height for maritime safety. The data are also important
for protecting and managing the increasingly busy coastal zones. Sentinel-6 builds on heritage from the Jason series of
ocean topography satellites and from ESA’s CryoSat mission. Importantly, this new mission is designed to complement
ocean information from Sentinel-3. More information about the Sentinel-6 mission is available at
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/EarthObservation/Sentinel6_facts_2015.pdf
4.5
ESA TPM missions
ESA Third Party Mission (TPM) data, either archived or newly available at the time, will contribute to Dragon 4. Those
contributions will respect related Data Access Agreements and associated partial limitations (e.g. geographical, user
nationality or other) as given by the data policy of the respective mission. The following TPM products will be available to
the selected Dragon 4 teams with an associated quota of products. Investigators are requested to take note of these quotas
when preparing their proposals and inform on their TPM data requirements. For all TPM missions, Dragon 4 project
leaders will be requested to accept on-line the ESA Terms and Conditions for data use prior to data delivery.
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4.5.1
ALOS-1
For the PRISM products, a quota of 50 products per year per project can be requested. For AVNIR-2 and PALSAR
products, 200 products per project per year per product type can be requested. Available products are the ones available
in the ESA archive which mostly covers the ADEN zone, and some OOZ data. The PI of the project requesting the ALOS-1
data has to be European. The co-PI can be Chinese.
More information about ALOS Mission and products distributed by ESA under this ESA TPM agreement available at :
https://earth.esa.int/aos/alos
4.5.2 COSMO-SkyMed
A maximum of 15 archive products (or 7 new acquisitions) for a maximum of 15 projects, can be requested. The following
modes can be requested: ScanSAR (Wide and Huge) and StripMap (PingPong and Himage).
More information about the COSMO-SkyMed Mission and products distributed by ESA under this ESA TPM agreement
are available at : https://earth.esa.int/aos/cosmoskymed
4.5.3 PROBA-V
All 1Km, 333m and 100m products are available to project investigators. PROBA-V extended mission will run until May
2018, and afterwards offline data will be available from the archive.
Access to PROBA-V 1km data can be made following user registration on-line at:
https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/pi-community/apply-for-data/fast-registration
Access to PROBA-V 333m and 100m data will be made available after full proposal acceptance. Data will have to be
retrieved from the Proba-V product Dissemiantion facility by PIs, free of charge. More information about PROBA-V
Mission, products and data access is available at:
https://earth.esa.int/aos/probav300m
4.5.4 RapidEye
Up-to 2016, access to RapidEye data will be limited by a quota of 20 "credits" per project. Out of this quota, each archive
tile (predefined area of 25km per 25km) has a value of 1 "credit", for new acquisitions, a new tasking tile has a value of 2
"credits". For full details on the tiles /credits equivalence relation and on the minimum number of tiles for an order
please read carefully the RapidEye Terms of Applicability https://earth.esa.int/files/Terms_of_Applicability_RapidEye .
More information about RapidEye Mission and products distributed by ESA under this ESA TPM agreement available at :
https://earth.esa.int/aos/rapideye
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4.6
Chinese EO data
4.6.1 HJ-1
Two optical satellites (HJ-1-A and HJ-1-B) have been launched in 2008 and are still operational now. One SAR satellite
(HJ-1-C) has been launched in 2012 and was out of operation after several months of launching. The payloads of HJ-1 are
as follows:
•
•
•
•
Wide field multi-spectrum camera (on both HJ-1-A & B). 4 bands, 30m resolution, 720km swath
Hyper-spectrum imager (on HJ-1-A). 115 bands, 50km swath, 100m spatial resolution
Infrared scanner (on HJ-1-B). Four IR bands, 150m~300m resolution , 720km swath
Synthetic aperture radar (on HJ-1-C). It was operational at S-band at a ground resolution of 20m
resolution, the swath is 100km.
Access to HJ-1-A/B data can be made following user registration by Chinese PI on-line at:
218.247.138.121 (only Chinese version)
The data can be downloaded after approval to data request on line.
A short time archived HJ-1-C data can be made available to this opportunity. The data can be acquired by submitting the
request to Dragon office in Chinese side.
4.6.2 HY-1 & 2
There are two satellites in the HY-1 Series, 1A and 1B. HY-1A was launched in 2002 and HY-1B in 2007. They carry
sensors designed to monitor and measure Ocean Colour and SST as shown in Table 4. The two main sensors are:
1) COCTS - Chinese Ocean Colour and Temperature Scanner (developed by SITP)
2) CZI - Coastal Zone Imager (CCD Camera) (developed by CAST)
The HY-2 satellite is a marine remote sensing satellite developed by China and launched in 2011.
monitoring the dynamic ocean environment with microwave sensors to detect sea surface wind
and sea surface temperature. It includes an altimeter dual-frequency in Ku and C-bands,
microwave imager. The orbit is sun-synchronous: the first 2 years with a 14-day cycle, then one
(168-day cycle, 5-day approx. sub-cycle).
The objective of HY-2 is
field, sea surface height
a scatterometer and a
year with geodetic orbit
The HY-1B & HY-2 data can be acquired by filling and submitting an application form downloaded at:
www.nsoas.gov.cn/NSOAS_En/Services/index.html
Data will be delivered free of charge, and Dragon 4 users will be requested to accept “HY-1B satellite, HY-2 satellite data
product international user releasing policy and guide” at: http://www.nsoas.gov.cn/NSOAS_En/Products/3.html.
More information about the HY missions is available at:
www.nsoas.gov.cn/NSOAS_En/Satellites/index.html
4.6.3 FY Series
There are two types of Chinese Meteorological Satellite (FY Series): Polar System (FY-1、FY-3) and Geostationary System
(FY-2、FY-4). Polar-orbit satellites operational system can provide both local and global environment data; geostationary
satellites system can provide observation of East-Asia hemisphere hourly. Products derived from FY-1D, FY-2C/D/E/F/G
and FY-3A/B/C can be made available to this opportunity.
FY-1 series are China's first generation sun-synchronous orbiting meteorological satellites. Observing instruments aboard
FY-1D are as follows:
•
Multi-channel Visible and Infrared Scan Radiometer (MVISR). Its main goal is to collect numerous
Earth atmospheric and surface condition parameters such as ice, snow and vegetation and monitor solar activity
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•
and its effect on the Earth’s atmosphere. It has 10 spectral bands. Products include atmosphere products (CMW
，THP，CP，TPW，OLR), land products (LST, SLH, VCI, LAI, LSR), and ocean products (SST, SWC, SI).
Space Environment Monitor (SEM) for observing energetic particles in solar winds.
China's first geostationary meteorological satellites were named FengYun-2, or FY-2 satellites. China launched its first
geostationary meteorological satellite FY-2A on June 10, 1997. According to China's development plan for geostationary
meteorological satellites, China's first generation geostationary meteorological satellites can be divided into three groups:
The first group includes two experimental satellites: FY-2A and FY-2B; the second group has three satellites, including
FY-2C, FY-2D and FY-2E; the last group has FY-2F, FY-2G and FY-2H, with improved performance compared with the
second group. Observing instruments aboard FY-2 includes following:
•
•
Stretched Visible and Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (S-VISSR). On FY-2A/B, the same instrument
has only three channels (0.5-1.05μm, 6.3-7.6μm and 10.5-12.5μm). On the rest of satellites (FY-2 C/D/E /
F/G/H), the infrared long window area (10.5-12.5μm) was split into two channels, with an additional middle
range infrared channel (3.5-4.0μm). As a result, the instrument's spatial resolution is raised from 5.76 km (IR)
and 1.44 km (VIS) to 5.0 km (IR) and 1.25 km (VIS). The disc image scanning is set at 30 minutes per cycle.
Space Environment Monitor (SEM). FY-2 satellites are equipped with a particle detector and an X-ray
detector to monitor the space environment where the satellites are working. They collect space environment
data, including solar activities, and send them back to the ground application system for satellite projects
planning, space environment studies, and space hazards warning.
FY-3 satellites are China's second generation polar-orbiting meteorological satellites, with substantively enhanced
functionalities and technical capabilities. They are designed to enhance China's three dimensional atmospheric sounding
capability and global data acquisition capability, in an effort to collect more cloud and surface characteristics data, from
which meteorologists may infer out atmospheric, land surface and sea surface parameters that are global, all-weather,
three-dimensional, quantitative, and multi-spectral. FY-3 Products derived from the following instruments can be made
available under this call:
•
Visible and Infra Red Radiometer (VIRR) on FY-3A, FY-3B and FY-3C, 10-channel VIS/IR multipurpose imaging radiometer, with a spectral range from 0.43μm to 12.5μm, and a nadir resolution of 1.1km;
•
Medium Resolution Spectral Imager-1 (MERSI-1) on FY-3A and FY-3B, with a 20-channel radiometer
(19 visible/shortwave channels and 1 thermal infrared channel), for collecting sea color and vegetation index. 4
of the channels are set for 250m-resolution, with others for 1km;
•
Medium Resolution Spectral Imager-2 (MERSI-2) on FY-3C, an integration of VIRR and MERSI-1's
channels;
•
Infra Red Atmospheric Sounder (IRAS) on FY-3A, FY-3B, and FY-3C, with 26 channels, including a
visible channel, from 0.69μm to 15.0μm. The ground surface resolution is set at 17km;
•
Micro-Wave Temperature Sounder-1 (MWTS-1) on FY-3A and FY-3B. It is a 4-channel microwave
radiometer for all-weather temperature probes with a cross-track scanning capability. The resolution is set at
70km and the frame width at 2,200km;
•
Micro-Wave Temperature Sounder - 2 (MWTS-2) on FY-3C, a replacement of MWTS-1, with a
performance closer to AMSU-A;
•
Micro-Wave Humidity Sounder-1 (MWHS-1) on FY-3A and FY-3B, designed with 4 frequencies and 5
channels for all-weather humidity probe. The 183GHz channels are set at a resolution of 15km, cross-track
scanning enabled with a frame width of 2,700km;
•
Micro-Wave Humidity Sounder-2 (MWHS-2) on FY-3C, a replacement of MWHS-1;
•
Micro-Wave Radiation Imager (MWRI) on FY-3A, FY-3B and FY-3C, designed with 5 frequencies and
10 channels. The conical scanning radiometer can be set at a resolution of 9 x 15 km (90 GHz) or 30 x 50 km (19
GHz), with a frame width of 1,400 km;
•
Backscatter Ultraviolet Sounder (SBUS) on FY-3A, FY-3B, and FY-3C, an integration of two spectral
radiometers for profile sounding, with a TOU ranging from 252mm to 340nm, 12 channels, nadir observing
mode, and 200km resolution;
•
Total Ozone Unit (TOU) on FY-3A, FY-3B, and FY-3C, for total ozone probe, covering a spectral range
from 208nm to 360nm, 6-channels, 50km resolution, and a frame width at 200km;
•
Earth Radiation Measurement -1 (ERM-1) on FY-3A, FY-3B, and FY-3C, with 2 wide spectral band
channels for Earth radiation budget measurement. It is designed with two components, with one equipped with
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•
•
•
•
a scanning mechanism ( 28km resolution and 2300km frame width), and the other without (a 120-degree
viewing angle that covers an area of 2,200km);
Solar Irradiance Monitor -1 (SIM-1) on FY-3A and FY-3B, for solar observation when the satellite
pointing to the Sun over the polar regions, with 3 channels for radiation measurement, and a bandwidth of 0.250μm;
Solar Irradiance Monitor -2 (SIM-2) on FY-3C , an upgraded version of SIM-1;
Space Environment Monitoring (SEM) on FY-3A and FY-3B
Space Environment Suite (SES) on FY-3C, an improved version of SEM, consisting of SEM (Space
Environment Monitoring), WAI (Wide-field Auroral Imager) and IPM (Ionospheric PhotoMeter)
More information and access to FY data can be made by user registration at following website:
http://satellite.nsmc.org.cn (Chinese and English versions)
Data will be delivered free of charge for use of Dragon 4 projects.
4.6.4 CBERS-04
The China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS) was jointly developed by China and Brazil since 1988. CBERS-04
was launched successfully on 7th Dec., 2014. The payloads of CBERS-04 are as follows:
•
•
•
•
Panchromatic & CCD Camera (PAN). The PAN Camera has three spectral bands in the visible and near
infrared range and one panchromatic band. It has a nadir spatial resolution of 5 meters for panchromatic bands
and spatial resolution of 10 meter for multispectral bands.
Multispectral Camera (MUX). The MUX Camera has a nadir spatial resolution of 20 meters and a swath
width of 120Km. It has four spectral bands in the visible and near infrared range.
Infrared Multispectral Scanner (IRS) . The IRS instrument has a spatial resolution of 40 meters (for three
visible to short-wave infrared spectral bands) and 80 meters (for one thermal infrared band). Its swath width is
120 Km
Wide Field Imager (WFI). The WFI camera has a nadir spatial resolution of 73 meters in four visible to nearinfrared spectral bands. It has a swath width of 866 Km.
Access to CBERS-04 data can be made following user registration by Chinese PI on-line at:
218.247.138.121 (only Chinese version)
The data can be downloaded after approval to data request on line.
4.6.5 Beijing-1 & 2
The archived data derived from the following instruments in the Beijing-1 Small-Satellite can be made available to this
opportunity:
•
Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI). It measures the solar radiation reflected by the earth, at a ground spatial
resolution of 32m, in 3 spectral bands (NIR: 760-900 nm / Red: 630-690nm / Green: 520-620 nm). The Swath
Width is 600 km.
The Beijing-2 constellation comprising three identical optical EO satellites, was launched on 11th July 2015, which makes
it possible to target anywhere on Earth once per day. It offers 1m high-resolution panchromatic imagery products and 4m
high-resolution multispectral imagery products with a 23.4km swath.
Both Beijing-1 achieved data & Beijing-2 data are available for use of dragon 4 projects by submitting data request to
dragon office in Chinese side. There will be data quota restriction, because data acquisition could be subject to priorities
for scheduling and operating the sensors.
More information about the Beijing-1 & Beijing-2 missions is available at:
http://www.21at.com.cn/en/TripleSatConstellation/
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4.6.6 Jilin-1
The Jilin-1 satellite, the China's self-developed remote sensing satellite for commercial use, was launched in October 2015.
Jilin-1 consists of four satellites, one for high-resolution images (<1m), one for testing new space technology and another
two for video. It is operated by Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd under the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine
Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The satellites will focus on providing photographs to commercial
clients, while helping with harvest assessment, geological disaster prevention and resource surveys.
Jilin-1 data will be available for use of dragon 4 projects. The way to access data is to be confirmed following successful
launch.
4.6.7 CFOSAT
A Sino-French collaboration mission CFOSAT is scheduled to be launched into orbit by June 2018, the satellite will have
two wave and wind measuring instruments, surface wave investigation and monitoring (SWIM) and wind scatterometer
(SCAT). CFOSAT is designed to study ocean surface wind and wave conditions to improve forecasts for marine
meteorology and knowledge of climate variations.
CFOSAT data will be available for use of dragon 4 projects. Access to data is to be confirmed following successful launch
and operation of the satellite.
More information about the mission is available on-line at:
http://smsc.cnes.fr/CFOSAT/
4.6.8 TanSat
The TanSat is a satellite constellation to measure methane and carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. It is sponsored by
MOST China, and the first satellite will be launched in 2016.
The data will be available for use of dragon 4. The way to access TanSat data is to be confirmed following successful
launch.
4.6.9 GF-1
The GF-1 satellite was launched on April 26, 2013, as part of High-resolution earth observing system of China. It has three
payloads including a high-resolution pan sensor, one high-resolution multispectral CCD camera and a mid-resolution
multispectral camera with 800km swath. It can be used in land resource, environmental protection, agriculture, water
Resource, forest resource, and ocean and disaster management.
Access to GF-1 data is subject to data policy confirmation and data type restriction.
More information of GF-1 is available at:
218.247.138.121 (only Chinese version)
4.6.10 GF-3, 4 &5
As part of High-resolution earth observing system of China, both GF-3 satellite with payload of high-resolution C-SAR
and GF-5 satellite with hyperspectral CCD cameras will be launched in 2016, and GF-4, a geostationary orbit satellite with
mid-resolution CCD and thermal infra-red sensors, will be launched at the end of 2015. They can be used in land resource,
environmental protection, agriculture, water Resource, forest resource and disaster mitigation.
Access to GF-3, 4 & 5 data is subject to data policy confirmation and data type restriction.
More information for GF-3, 4 & 5 will be available at: 218.247.138.121 (only Chinese version)
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5
SUBMISSION & EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS
5.1
Proposal submission
[IMPORTANT] Please follow the guidelines for submission available at: https://earth.esa.int/aos/dragon4 .
Each proposal shall be led by a European and a Chinese Lead Investigator (LI). A maximum of 4 PIs per project may be
included. In the on-line submission form, be sure to complete all PI and co-investigator contact and affiliation details
including contact email addresses.
All investigators shall have read and accepted the Terms and Conditions for the utilisation of ESA Earth Observation data,
ESA Third Party Missions data and Copernicus Sentinels data, as applicable.
Terms and Conditions for ESA data are available at:
https://earth.esa.int/files/terms
Terms and Conditions for ESA TPM data are available at:
https://earth.esa.int/files/TPMterms
Terms and Conditions for Copernicus Sentinels data are available at:
https://sentinel.esa.int/documents/247904/690755/Sentinel_Data_Terms_and_Conditions
Acceptance of the terms and conditions to access ESA and ESA TPM data is expressed by ticking the boxes available in the
on-line submission form.
The lead investigators shall have read and accepted the Terms and Conditions for the utilisation of each Chinese EO data,
and access to some Chinese EO data are need to submitting data request to dragon office in Chinese side .
5.2
Review Panel and procedures
Proposals submitted in the framework of the Dragon 4 cooperation will be reviewed by a scientific Committee with
representatives appointed by ESA and MOST/NRSCC:
• With expertise that encompass scientific research, technology, applications development, national and
international research programmes
• With a broad understanding of the uses of Earth observation data, including uses in operational systems.
The purpose of the review is:
• To assess whether the specific projects are in accordance with ESA, TPM, Copernicus Sentinels & Chinese EO
data policy and with the specific objectives of the Dragon 4 cooperation
• To evaluate the scientific, application and technical merits of the proposed projects in relation to their technical
feasibility.
The final decisions concerning the acceptance of proposals for projects will be made upon recommendation of the review
Committee. Final approval will be granted according to the ESA and MOST-NRSCC acceptance procedures.
5.3
Evaluation criteria
Within the overall context of the ESA Earth Observation mission objectives, the evaluation process is expected to identify
opportunities to exploit the potential of the ESA Earth Observation mission. The following criteria will be used in the
evaluation process:
• Suitability of the proposal to the conditions for scientific use
• Continuity of the ESA-MOST Dragon 3 projects and themes
• Relevance of the proposed project to the objectives of the ESA Earth Observation and Chinese EO mission and
the specific call objectives
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•
•
•
•
•
5.4
The merit of the project from a scientific, technological, economic and operational viewpoint and the degree of
innovation of the proposal
The technical feasibility of completing the project and achieving positive results within a period of typically four
years, with special emphasis on the adequacy and practicability of the schedule presented in the proposal
The competence and relevant experience of the Principal Investigator and co-investigators as an indication of
their ability to complete the project successfully.
Involvement of young scientists and in particular assignment of research packages lasting 1 to 4 years and
reporting
Proposed teaming on both European and Chinese side, including the identification of lead investigators and
teams to undertake research packages within each project. The lead investigators shall in particular be
responsible for the management and coordination of the research project.
Follow-on actions and activities
An analysis of data requirements will be done by ESA and NRSCC to define a product/programming quota of the
restrained dataset on the basis of the amount of data requested in the proposal. The results of the evaluation
(acceptance/rejection or request for modifications) will be transmitted to the Lead Investigators (LIs) who shall inform
their teams accordingly.
At the start-up of an accepted project the PIs will be granted:
•
Access to all ESA EO data systematically available online requested in the frame of the proposal A detailed list of
systematically available on-line products is available at the address:
https://earth.esa.int/pi/esa?type=file&table=aotarget&cmd=image&id=520
•
A product/programming quota of the restrained ESA and ESA TPM EO dataset for the project.
•
A product/programming quota for some restrained Chinese EO data for the project.
Following notification, the selected principal investigators will have to:
•
Confirm their intention to proceed with the project
•
Confirm the funding of the project (including a written confirmation from the funding entity)
•
Agree to the allocated data quantities and the delivery conditions
In some cases the principal investigator will be required to amend his proposal in order to meet the acceptance criteria
and in accordance with the remarks expressed by the evaluators.
6
SCHEDULE
Opening of the call: 29 October 2015
Deadline for submission of proposals: 29 January 2016
ESA/MOST-NRSCC review meeting: Early to mid-March 2016
Notification of evaluation to proposers: Following both ESA and MOST China approval April / May 2016
Symposium for Kick Off Dragon 3 cooperation projects: 7 to 8 July 2016, China
Start of ESA and Chinese EO data order/delivery: 8 July 2016
Start of Funding for European PIs: 1 January 2017 (subject to funding secured at C-MIN16)
Projects completion, final results publication and reporting: June 2020 (4 years)
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