The European Union satellite constellation Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) received funding approval from the European Parliament’s industry committee with $107 Million euro for operations for 2011-2013. The full European Parliament is exptectd to approve this investment in June.
The mission forms the European contribution to the worldwide Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). The program intends to launch four satellites that include radar imaging from Sentinel-1, high-resolution images from Sentinel-2, ocean and global land monitoring from Sentinel-3, atmospheric composition monitoring from Sentinel-4, and geostationary and polar orbits from Sentinel-5. The mission will also include measurements from instruments carried on aircraft, floating buoys and sensors on the ground.
GMES fulfills five functions that include security, atmospheric monitoring, marine environment monitoring, land management, and emergency response.
