The study of the ocean and the land surface from satellites - General discussion

E. D. R. Shearman (Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Birmingham, U.K.). We have had comments from a number of speakers on three planned remote-sensing satellites designed for ocean studies, the European ERS-1, the Canadian Radarsat and the Japanese satellite ERTS-1, all scheduled for 1988-90. If the orbits were coordinated, one suggested revisit interval, namely 3 days, for high-resolution observations could be reduced to a 1-day revisit interval. Could anyone tell us whether an attempt is being made internationally to agree on a single revisit cycle and to coordinate the launches so that the maximum benefit is obtained from the overall effort? J. T. Houghton, F.R.S. The various space agencies involved are discussing questions of coordination. Further, the Joint Scientific Committee of the World Climate Research Programme is organizing meetings to try to ensure the best possible scientific return from the various ocean observation satellites that will be flying at the time mentioned.