Recent Progress of Earth Science Satellite Missions in China

Abstract

Earth Science from Space is an interdisciplinary discipline that studies the interactions, mechanisms, and evolution of the Earth system through space observation. In China, the national medium- to long-term civilian space infrastructure development plan and the space-science pilot project from the Chinese Academy of Sciences are two programs associated with advancing the Earth science from space. This paper reports recent scientific findings, developments and the status of the six missions. It is organized as the following sections: Introduction, two satellite missions that are already in orbit—the TanSat-1 for atmospheric CO2 and the LuTan-1 for global surface deformation, a Terrestrial Ecosystem Carbon Inventory Satellite to be launched in 2022, and three missions that passed the Phase II study and planned for near future—the Ocean Surface Current multiscale Observation, the Terrestrial Water Resources Satellite. Climate and Atmospheric Components Exploring Satellites (CACES), followed by the conclusion.