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DDC:
550 - Earth sciences
Abstract:
In order to take advantage of the unique constellation aspect of the Swarm mission, considerably advanced data analysis tools will need to be developed. Scientific use of data from the Swarm mission will also benefit significantly from derived products, the so-called Level-2 products, that take into account the features of the constellation. For this reason ESA has established a “Satellite Constellation Application and Research Facility” (SCARF), in the form of a consortium of several research institutions. A number of Level-2 data products will be offered by this consortium, including various models of the core and lithospheric field, as well as of the ionospheric and magnetospheric field. In addition, derived parameters like mantle conductivity, thermospheric mass density and winds, field-aligned currents, an ionospheric plasma bubble index, the ionospheric total electron content and the dayside equatorial zonal electrical field will be calculated. Following the end of the currently running 30-month development phase, this service is expected to be operational for a period of 5 years after the launch of the Swarm Mission, which is scheduled for summer 2012. All of the derived products will be available through the Swarm Payload Data Ground Segment (PDGS), located at ESRIN, the ESA Centre for Earth Observation in Frascati, Italy.
