Copernicus POD Service: Ready for Sentinel-3

Abstract:

The Copernicus POD Service is part of the Copernicus PDGS Ground Segment of the Sentinel missions. A GMV-led consortium is operating the Copernicus POD Service being in charge of generating precise orbital products and auxiliary data files for their use as part of the processing chains of the respective Sentinel PDGS.

The Sentinel-1, -2 & -3 missions have different but very demanding requirements in terms of orbital accuracy and timeliness. Orbital products in Near Real Time (latency: 30 min), Short Time Critical (1.5 days) and Non-time Critical (20-30 days) are required. The accuracy requirements are very challenging, targeting 5 cm in 3D for Sentinel-1 and 2-3 cm in radial direction for Sentinel-3.

Sentinel-3A carries, in addition to a GPS receiver a laser retro reflector and a DORIS receiver. On the one hand, the three different techniques GPS, SLR and DORIS make POD more complex but, on the other hand, it is very helpful to have independent techniques available for validation of the orbit results. The successful POD processing for Sentinel-1A is a good preparation for Sentinel-3A due to the similar demanding orbit accuracy requirements. The Copernicus POD Service is ready for Sentinel-3A and the service will process GPS and SLR data routinely and has the capacity to process DORIS in NTC and reprocessing campaigns. The three independent orbit determination techniques on Sentinel-3 offer big potential for scientific exploitation. Carrying all three techniques together makes the satellite, e.g., very useful for combining all the techniques on observation level as it could only be done for Jason-2 until now.

The Sentinel POD Quality Working Group strongly supporting the CPOD Service delivers additional orbit solutions to validate the CPOD results independently. The recommendations from this body guarantee that the CPOD Service is updated following state-of-the-art algorithms, models and conventions. The QWG also focuses on the scientific exploitation of the Sentinel missions.

The current status of the CPOD Service is presented operating Sentinel-1A and -2A and its readiness for Sentinel-3A. It is shown how the quality and the timeliness of the products are guaranteed. Possibilities for scientific exploitation of the Sentinel-3 mission also in synergy with other Earth Observation and Sentinel missions are presented.