Missions goals

Space based calibration of data gathering satellites

Whilst there is no doubt that the Earth's climate is changing and near-global consensus that mankind is playing a major role, the timescale and nature of our impact remains uncertain. Assessments of climate change depend on data collected over decades so that small, often subtle, changes are reliably detected. TRUTHS aims to enhance by an order of magnitude, our ability to estimate the earth’s radiation budget and to establish a ‘metrology laboratory in space’

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has highlighted the uncertainty in the ensemble of climate models, which forecast a range of potential further temperature rises of the Earth, from 0.5°C to 5°C by 2100. For policy-makers to accept and act upon the data with any degree of confidence, it must be referenced to a traceable and internationally-accepted standard and have a significantly narrower range in potential outcomes. TRUTHS helps achieve this by providing a 'gold standard' to underpin a new era in Earth Observation from space.

Many Earth Observation satellites are used to provide inputs and developments of models that advise policy-makers. The goal of TRUTHS is to improve the accuracy, reliability and integrity of this data through:

• Measurement of both the incoming solar and reflected (Earth/Moon) radiation with sufficient accuracy and spectral resolution to allow an order of magnitude increase in our ability to estimate the earth’s radiation budget creating an SI-traceable reference data set to cross calibrate other sensors and improve the quality of their data
• Delivery of the first satellite to calibrate itself – directly traceable to SI units via a primary standard – in orbit
• Absolute, high-accuracy traceable calibration for other EO missions
• Making global nadir hyperspectral observations of the Earth's reflectance

TRUTHS

Satellite calibration

Learn more about TRUTHS

Mission development