All language subtitles for The.New.Frontier.S03E02.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-ISA_track3_[eng]

- [Narrator] The tenuous envelope of gas

surrounding our planet,

is an unbelievably complex machine

that protects us from the vacuum of space,

shelters us from harmful radiation,

and allows us and the
biosphere to breathe.

It is our atmosphere

and we need to learn much more about it

so we can take better care of it.

(dramatic orchestral music)

(engine roaring)

(exploding)

Soon the European Space Agency, ESA,

will launch it's new Earth
observation satellite,

called Aeolus.

Using cutting edge laser technology,

Aeolus will provide near
real time observations

of wind profiles across the globe.

These will improve the accuracy

of numerical weather prediction
and climate modeling,

and advance our understanding

of global atmospheric dynamics.

- Aeolus is one of the Earth explorers

that is gonna look at the Earth

trying to understand the
wind profiles globally.

And that's a first.

It doesn't exist yet.

The whole idea was that we
only have wind measurements

on very different, small
spots on the Earth.

And we didn't have it globally.

So the mission scientists
have been asking for this

because it's a gap in
our measurement system.

- [Narrator] The mission
aims to expand our knowledge

of our atmosphere and weather systems.

Aeolus will achieve this by
providing global observations

of wind profiles from space,

providing data which has
never been available before.

- It's unknown ground.

It's what we call unchartered territory.

So, we are the first agency
trying to get a satellite

in orbit that looks at
the Earth with a laser,

and trying to understand the
wind profiles of the direction,

the height, and the wind speeds,

and therefore, improving
the weather forecast

cause nowadays we only
have, at single points,

balloons that measure the wind,

or airplanes that give us some data,

or at fixed points, at discreet points.

This will look down to the
Earth in a fuller orbit.

Will dump every 90 minutes, the data,

to Svalbard, that will be distributed

to all the European
meteorological institutes,

and then when you're sitting
at home, on your couch,

you watch through the television,

and you see a weather forecast

that is much better than we have today.

- [Narrator] Aeolus will fly

in a sun-synchronized polar orbit,

320 kilometers above Earth's surface.

Its data will be sent to
ESA's Svalbard ground station,

located in the Archipelago
halfway between Norway

and the North Pole, every 90 minutes.

The satellite's main
instrument is Aladdin.

- The way the Aladdin instrument works

is to eject an ultraviolet beam
down through the atmosphere,

and then particles of
moisture in the atmosphere,

at various levels, are in
motion because of the wind and

the system measures the back
scatter from those particles

using the doppler effect,

and can detect the wind speed
at the various altitudes.

And then that's the way
the system really operates.

(humming)

- [Narrator] The development of Aeolus

has been a long and difficult process,

with new and cutting edge
technologies designed,

developed, and tested on the ground.

- It has been a very difficult
challenge, let's say,

it's a long line because it
exists already for 16 years,

the program, and when
we first hit the part of

the instrument where you
switch it on, it works,

then we put it in vacuum,
and it stopped working.

And no one had realized that

we needed oxygen inside the satellite

to keep the laser active.

So it was quite a challenge.

So we had to develop a
whole new set of techniques.

It's maybe a bit too detailed
to go in all the details,

but as a lot of technology
has been developed,

put in this nice little
satellite, which is behind me.

- [Narrator] Aeolus is another
ESA Earth explorer mission

aimed at pioneering new technology

while providing useful
data about our ecosystem.

It showcases the technological expertise

of the European space industry,

and ESA's objective of monitoring

and understanding the
planet we all live on.

- The main challenge for us

has been within the development
of the Aladdin instrument.

There's a very high-powered
ultraviolet laser system

in there that is an inherent
part of the instrument.

And the technology
behind that laser system,

the development of a stable
laser, high-powered laser beam,

and the optics that then focus

and divert that beam in through
the system is very critical

and has been a very key
part of the development.

(upbeat electronic music)

After many years

and much hard work across
the European industry,

we've overcome those problems.

We've got some new development in through

coating technology on the
optical surfaces to protect them,

and we've now got a stable system

that's been fully tested on the ground

and we're ready to go.

- [Narrator] The tracking of
air pollution is also part

of the European Union's
Earth Observation program,

Copernicus.

One of the satellites that gave scientists

massive amounts of data on
atmospheric function was Envisat.

This satellite used several
spectrometers to detect ozone

and trace gases in our atmosphere.

The latest satellite, The
Sentinel 5P cursor mission,

was recently launched and
builds on the legacy of Envisat.

- So we started this precursor mission

because the scientists
wanted continuity of data.

At the moment we only have one spacecraft

doing that job for us, which is Omi.

And Omi is coming towards
the end of its lifetime.

The next missions that will do this job

is Sentinel 4, on meta operation,

which will only be
launched in the early 20s.

In the meantime, to ensure
the continuity of data,

we need Sentinel 5 precursor.

It would be the only such mission
doing this job until then.

- Sentinel 5P is a precursor
to the Sentinel 5 mission,

which will be launched around 2021.

But it's not only a precursor,
it's also a gap filler,

because it's filling the gap,

based on the data that we have for

coming from Gomez
(indecipherable) measurements

towards the future Sentinel
4 and Sentinel 5 missions.

- [Narrator] Sentinel 5P is the first

atmospheric chemistry
mission within Copernicus.

Its main instrument is a
state of the art spectrometer

called Tropeleme, which
will be used to detect

trace gases in our atmosphere.

With Sentinel 5P and Tropeleme,

Copernicus will dramatically improve

operational atmospheric services.

The Sentinel 5P satellite
is a timely replacement

for the ERS and Envisat
after it stopped working.

There was an urgent need to fill the gap

in observing air quality
and air pollution.

Furthermore, according to the
World Health Organization,

air pollution is responsible
for over 3.7 million

premature deaths worldwide, every year.

But the health costs are even greater

as many people suffer from
nonlethal afflictions,

either caused or aggravated,
by breathing polluted air.

Another major health concern,

on which Sentinel 5P is gathering data,

is the ozone in our atmosphere.

When that ozone is depleted,

ultraviolet light from the
sun is no longer filtered.

Increased exposure to UV
light can cause skin cancer,

immune system damage, and
other ailments in humans.

- The Tropelme data will
be used operationally.

It will be used to improve
the air quality forecasts

and air quality forecasts, are of course,

are important for people who
are vulnerable to pollution,

but also for general public
in case of big smog events.

What we can do with the Tropelme data,

is we can look at the
emissions of pollutants

and when you see them changing over time

that is very important because we can see

if certain policy measures
have the right impact

or where we see still increases

we still have to do more to
reduce the polluting emissions.

- [Narrator] A decline in
air quality such as smog,

poses massive risks for people's health

and one of the main
contributors to climate change

is the pollution of our atmosphere

by greenhouse gases
such as CO2 and Methane.

This is why measurements on air pollution

need to be undertaken everywhere,

like here for instance, with
a mobile measurement station.

It detects smog and industrial emissions.

These local measurements supplement and

validate the global
observations from satellites,

which in turn are needed
for scientists to study

the air we breath and
the planet we live on.

- Well the satellites are
a key information base and

knowledge base for the study
of atmospheric physics,

chemistry, meteorology.

It's essential data
because we need to know

not just what's coming
out at a given place,

but we need to know where it's going,

where it's depositing at the surface,

how it's being transformed,

is it going to be taken up
by clouds and rained out,

if so, where?

And this whole transport
and transformation process

is a complex business.

In general, we have this problem of

unambiguously identifying
anthropogenic impact

from natural phenomenon
or natural behavior

in this complex system and
how we're modifying it.

So this is a challenge for the science

which is a necessary
prerequisite to enable good

legislation and ultimately
sustainable development

and so in this context,
measurements from space

are essential because they provide us with

the global picture, or from
the local to the global scale.

- The Sentinel 5P mission will
have quite some improvements

as compared to previous missions.

For example, if you look
at the spatial resolution,

we will break a record, namely
we will look at city scale

because the size will be as low as

3.5 kilometers times seven kilometers.

So we can then investigate
small scale features

over big cities and city
conglomerates, for example.

- [Narrator] The mission
will monitor the atmosphere

by using the Tropeleme
spectrometer to monitor

various trace gases in our atmosphere

and reduce data gaps between
Envisat and Sentinel 5.

By combining satellite data with the local

measurements on the ground,

scientists can properly
monitor air pollution

and how it impacts us and our planet.

- We have lots to understand
to assess the impact.

Ultimately, more pollution
is bad for health,

bad for people, and the
estimates are somewhere between

three and seven million people a year die

prematurely from air pollution.

This is a large number of people.

- [Narrator] At the forefront
of Earth observation,

the European space agency
helps us to understand

climate change and pollution by giving

scientists and policy makers the data that

can drive legislation.

- These atmospheric measurements are

extremely important for mankind.

First of all to see how our planet changes

in terms of climate, but also to see how

air quality changes in
different places and over time.

We have highly polluted
areas which are of course,

transporting pollution from
one place to the other.

So these fluxes of pollution or gases is

very important to monitor, but also

if you take Europe for example,

Europe has introduced
very strong legislation

and regulations in order to reduce

greenhouse gas emissions.

And this has also to be verified and

these satellites are very good measure,

a very good way of making
sure that these reductions

are taking place at a large scale.

- [Narrator] In the early 2020's,

the space component of the Copernicus

atmospheric services
will be extended through

the addition of Sentinel 4 and 5 missions.

Sentinel 4 will be a
geo-stationary mission

whereas Sentinel 5 will be
a low polar orbiting mission

like Sentinel 5P.

Atmospheric services are part
of the Copernicus portfolio

which comprises six main themes,

marine, land, emergency,
security, climate and atmosphere,

giving a complete overview
of our planet's health

and it's evolutions.

- It can have a lot of
practical applications

using the data from the
Sentinel 5P mission.

One idea would be,
perhaps, if you look at the

harmful UV radiation, you could set up

UV radiation services so
that people on the street,

so to speak, and the sun like today,

could inform themselves how harmful it is

to receive this short wave
ultra-violet radiation.

- The Sentinel 5 precursor data will be

combined with models and other data to

develop targeted services and they will be

available as apps,
social media information,

or rep services so that
a lot of people can

choose their way they want to be informed

about the environment.

- Atmospheric measurements
are important because

especially these
measurements that are done by

Sentinel 5 precursor
like tropospheric ozone,

information about nitrogen dioxide,

sulpher dioxide, also
information about aerosols,

particular matter.

They have impact on the health of people.

They can impact people
who have problems with

their hearts or with their lungs and

as it has been shown,
there are more than 400,000

premature deaths in the
European commissioning

based on exposure to air pollution.

- Air quality in Europe in particular,

but also in the U.S. and in Japan,

got much better over the last years.

That's a really big improvement
and at the same time,

air quality in the developing countries,

in particular in Asia,
has gotten worse because

they use much more energy now-a-days and

that's a big source of air pollution also.

They are using more cars that
will pollute the air more,

so it's different.

It depends on where you live.

Some places air quality gets better

and other places air quality gets worse.

I should add that in the last three years,

air quality in China has improved

because they are very ambitious about that

and they have very strict rules,

so they are trying to
follow the European or

United States path in
improving air quality

with better technology.

- [Narrator] Observations
from space is just one

of several methods of measuring
atmospheric pollution.

Satellites provide the data
although they need to be

calibrated with
measurements on the ground.

- So we are offering
comprehensive analysis,

integrating data different scale,

so we are using observations.

We are combined with
modeling with satellite data

and all this information is
complimenting each other.

This is the good thing
of this kind of analysis.

Satellite have the advantage of the

providing a global picture of trends

to kind of study trends very well,

how the main flows are taking place.

But satellite data, they
don't have the resolution

to get in detail in the
individual processes.

So here, with our in C2 measurements,

we are getting in the one particular point

and we get deeply in the detail.

(whirring)

- The satellite gives
these beautiful maps,

but you can only use them, really,

if you have a validation
measurement to compare it to

and this needs to be a
very good measurement

and this needs to be taken on the ground.

That's very important
for us because we need

to be very confident of the satellite data

and once you have launched the satellite,

it's out of your hands, and
you cannot bring it to the lab

and double check and test it.

It's there and you need to trust the data.

And the only way to get
this confidence in the data

is by comparison to other measurements.

- [Narrator] Other forms
of atmospheric pollution

such as the exhausting of carbon dioxide,

methane and ozone, contribute
greatly to climate change.

- Well I think basically,
it's often the case that our

models, which are extremely
complex and good tools,

often don't necessarily
have the right physics

or chemistry in them to be able to predict

what's going on in the future.

So a lot of the time,
in atmospheric science,

we've been making discoveries.

Back in the late 19th
century, early 20th century,

the discovery of the stratosphere

was a complete surprise at the
time, or fairly surprising.

In fact, the temperature
increases above the tropopause.

This was a surprising discovery and really

that's been typical.

We didn't expect summer smog.

We don't understand why
in Paris there was a

really big smog a couple of years ago

in spite of improvements of legislation.

This winter we had in
London a smog which is maybe

being attributed to excessive
wood burning recently.

So there's a lot of
things, although we have,

we're getting over the last 25 years,

much better information,
but the satellites,

in particular, tell us ultimately,

or could tell us ultimately,
what the source strengths are

and enable us to follow
the information and

there-by, together with models,

give really good
prediction for people about

the air quality they are receiving.

(ominous orchestral music)

- The Copernicus program
is very important for

Europe and for the world.

First of all, the Copernicus
program is providing

free data to everyone at
anyplace in the world.

So many users, not only in Europe,

but also in America, in
Asia, are using our data

in a very large scale
and very significantly.

So, therefore, Copernicus
is really monitoring

the health of our planet
from all dimensions.

The Atmosphere, the
oceans, the land surface,

the ice caps, and this
whole system of the Earth

composed of these components
is monitored constantly

with Copernicus and therefore,

it is really important to see

what is the state of our planet

and how it will evolve in the future.

- Well the data can be used
for different applications.

So for example, for the
air quality forecast.

It's also used, for
example, for the UV forecast

and we also use it to
warn the aviation for

volcanic ash plumes.

On top of that, the data will also be used

by scientists around the world,

to study the atmosphere and to study how

the man is changing the
atmosphere over time.

Continuous monitoring is very important

especially when you're
looking at slow changes

and an overlap between the data is then

really necessary to be able
to glue these different

data sets together to one data records

and we have data records from
these kind of instruments

starting in the 90's, for
example, for pollution.

It's very important to maintain
these valuable data records

and to extend them into the future.

- Well, the data is important
for our climate research

and also for our environment
because the air we breath,

it could be changed due to
all sorts of pollution events

and then a second example
is that we need to monitor

our ozone layer since ozone is destroyed

due to pure chlorophyll carbons.

75 people have also the role to monitor

the further evolution of the ozone layer.

- [Narrator] Mankind
can hull the pollution

of our atmosphere with good legislation.

The European Space Agency, ESA,

works tirelessly to monitor our planet

and the air we breath.

- We need a future where we,

with so many people on the Earth,

are in a position to maintain
a good quality of living

for human beings but
also for the biosphere.

(energetic orchestral music)