Global sea level rise monitoring secured for next decade
2 February 2010
The transatlantic Jason-3 Programme has now been approved by EUMETSAT Member States thus ensuring a continuation of the series of measurements made by the Jason-2 satellite and its predecessors in support of meteorology, operational oceanography and in particular the monitoring of the sea level trend, a key indicator of climate change.
Nineteen
EUMETSAT
Member
States
have
agreed
to
subscribe
to
the
Jason-3
ocean
altimetry
satellite
programme:
Belgium,
Croatia,
Denmark,
Finland,
France,
Germany,
Greece,
Ireland,
Italy,
Luxembourg,
the
Netherlands,
Norway,
Portugal,
Slovenia,
Spain,
Sweden,
Switzerland,
Turkey
and
the
United
Kingdom.
Together,
these
countries
are
prepared
to
contribute
€63.6
million
(at
2009
economic
conditions)
to
the
€252-million
programme
cost
of
Jason-3.
Today,
Jason-2’s
Ocean
Surface
Topography
Mission
provides
a
vital
contribution
to
the
monitoring
of
climate
change,
ocean
circulation
and
weather.
Jason-2
already
supplies
the
much-needed
data
continuity
essential
for
measuring
the
sea
level
trend,
one
of
the
key
indicators
of
climate
change.
Jason-3
will
continue
the
mission,
ensuring
the
measurement
of
rising
sea
levels
carried
out
by
Jason-2,
Jason-1
and
TOPEX/Poseidon
over
the
last
18
years.
These
high
accuracy
measurements
have
until
now
shown
an
average
global
annual
sea
level
rise
through
the
last
15
years
of
3.3
millimetres.
The
EUMETSAT
Director-General,
Dr.
Lars
Prahm,
welcomed
the
completion
of
subscriptions
to
Jason-3:
“The
fact
that
nearly
80
per
cent
of
EUMETSAT
members,
including
all
its
largest
Member
States,
are
participating
shows
the
importance
they
attach
to
continuing
the
mission
begun
so
successfully
by
Jason-2
and
that
the
solidarity
among
EUMETSAT
Member
States
continues
to
prevail.”
The
Jason-3
programme
is
led
by
EUMETSAT
and
the
US
National
Oceanic
and
Atmospheric
Administration
(NOAA).
NOAA
already
secured
funding
of
the
Jason-3
programme
in
2009
at
the
level
of
€100
million
and
has
given
it
top
priority
for
securing
climate-related
measurements.
In
addition,
the
Centre
National
d’Etudes
Spatiales
(CNES),
the
French
space
agency,
is
making
a
significant
in-kind
contribution
to
the
programme
and
will
act
at
the
technical
level
as
the
system
coordinator.
This
in-kind
contribution
includes
making
available
the
Jason-3
Proteus
satellite
platform,
its
facilities
and
associated
human
resources.
The
US
National
Aeronautics
and
Space
Administration
(NASA),
in
conjunction
with
the
three
other
partners,
will
support
science
team
activities.
The
US
contribution
to
Jason-3
includes
the
satellite
launch,
provision
of
instruments
and
support
to
operations.
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