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Contributing Missions

In addition to data provided by the Sentinel satellites, the contributing missions play a crucial role in delivering complementary data. They ensure that a whole range of observational requirements is satisfied.

Contributing Missions are missions from ESA, their Member States, Eumetsat and other European and international third party mission operators that make some of their data available for Copernicus.

There are around 30 existing or planned Contributing Missions. They fall into the following categories:

  • Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) to observe day and night the land and the ocean;
  • Optical sensors to monitor land activities and ocean dynamics;
  • Altimetry systems for sea-level measurement;
  • Radiometers to monitor land and ocean temperature;
  • Spectrometers for measurements of air quality.

Even when the Sentinels are operational, the Contributing Missions will continue to be essential, delivering complementary data to ensure that a whole range of observational requirements is satisfied.

Find out more on the different Contributing Missions!

Atmospheric composition data for methane detection

Hyperspectral images for biochemical and physical data

Thermal infrared images for disaster monitoring and agriculture

Multispectral imaging for agriculture, climate, and urban planning