Division 3.6 Overall operations and data acquisition strategy for the Copernicus dedicated missions

The operations strategy for all Sentinels shall have the following objectives:

1. (a)

   to provide data to Copernicus and other users according to the specified requirements;

2. (b)

   to ensure systematic and routine operational activities with a high level of automation and with pre-defined operation to the maximum extent possible.

The Sentinel operations strategy shall be documented in a High Level Operations Plan (HLOP) which shall be made publicly available. The HLOP shall include information on observation/planning, acquisition, processing and dissemination.

The High Level Operations Plan shall be defined based upon the observation requirements from primarily the Copernicus Services, national requirements from Copernicus Participating States, relevant Union Institutions and other users including based on international agreements, scientific use and commercial value-adding. Based upon the collected observation requirements, a series of simulations shall be performed to elaborate the observation scenarios taking into account the priority schemes and technical constraints. Consultation with the Copernicus Participating states on both the collection of observation requirements and observation plans shall be done typically once every year at the User Forum.

The acquisition strategy shall adhere to the following principles:

1. (a)

   sentinel-1 acquisitions shall be performed according to a mission background plan;

2. (b)

   sentinel-2 shall be acquired systematically between 56° S and 84° North over land, coastal areas as well as larger islands;

3. (c)

   sentinel-3, -5p, -5 and -6 shall systematically acquire data over the entire globe;

4. (d)

   sentinel-4 shall systematically acquire data over Europe from a geostationary orbit.