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INSTRUMENTS

Explore the many instruments the European Space Agency use to observe the Earth. ESA offer data from a wide range of optical, radar, atmospheric, altimetric and gravimetric instrumentation.

  • Instrument - Positioning/Navigation

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    PRARE

    The Precise Range And Range-Rate Equipment (PRARE) was a microwave tracking system on board the ERS-1 and ERS-2 missions.

  • Instrument - Laser Ranging

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    LRR ERS

    The Laser Retro-Reflector (LRR), on board the ERS-1 and ERS-2 missions, was an optical device for accurate satellite tracking from the ground to support instrument data evaluation.

  • Instrument - Scatterometers

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    SAR (ERS)

    The Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instrument aboard ERS-1 and ERS-2 was capable of high precision change detection of surface heights.

  • Instrument - Scatterometers

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    WS

    The Wind Scatterometer (WS) instrument, on board the ERS-1 and ERS-2 missions, obtained information on wind speed and direction over the sea surface.

  • Instrument - Laser Ranging

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    LRR (Envisat)

    The LRR instrument aboard Envisat was used to accurately determine the orbital height of the satellite.

  • Instrument - GPS

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    GPSR and LRR (Swarm)

    Each Swarm satellite is equipped with a Laser Retro-Reflector for external calibration and validation of the on-board GPS receiver.

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