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Characteristics of the Jason-3 Mission

The Jason-3 Mission was an experimental satellite mission to help support

commercial, practical and scientific applications associated with the rise of the sea level,

ocean circulation and changes in the climate. Therefore, the aim of the Jason-3 mission was

to help extend the measurements of the topography of the ocean surface. This objective was

first started by the Poseidon/Topex satellite in the year 1992 and later continued through the

launch of Jason-1 in the year 2001 and Jason-2/OSTM, which was launched in 2008

(Zawadzki and Ablain). The Jason-3 Mission has a number of characteristics that makes it

unique from the different missions. The paper presents these characteristics.

One of the primary characteristics of the Jason-3 Mission is the inclusion of a radar

altimeter, which helps measure the variations in the sea level. It has a very high precision of

about 3.3cm thus allowing accurate measurement of the ocean topography. Furthermore, the

Jason-3 Mission mainly focuses on both scientific observations and operational application of

the mission’s findings. In other words, the Jason-3 Mission is more of a science driven and

operational mission as compared to the first two missions.

The primary instrument of the Jason-3 Mission is “the Poseidon-3B altimeter,” which

provides significant continuity in the data collected with the former missions (Scharroo et

al.). It also improves accuracy in measurement and operation of the mission’s primary

instrument. Moreover, the Jason-3 satellite has a passive microwave radiometer, otherwise

known as the Advanced Microwave Radiometer 2.

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Just like its predecessors, the Jason-3 spacecraft makes use CNES and Thales Alenia

Space’s Proteus satellite bus together with a payload module. The payload module comprises

of the primary instruments found in the Jason-2 including the Poseidon-class radio altimeter,

a package that uses a laser retro-reflector, the DORIS payload and GPS to determine precise

orbits (Biancamaria et al.). Additionally, the Jason-3 payload module includes a radiation

dosimeter from Japan and CNES. Moreover, Jason-3 satellite’s payload module includes a

Laser Reflected Area (LRA) that is used to precisely calibrate other instruments used in laser

pulse analysis. The Jason-3 payload also combines a passive and an active instrument. The

active radar pulsates radio signals and helps record the radar echoes, which gives information

on ocean topography. The passive microwave radiometer simply records ambient microwave

emissions at specific wavelength range so as to yield correction data that is used ti account

for atmospheric effects.

Furthermore, the Jason-3 satellite is characterized by two experimental ‘passenger’

tools, that is, the CARMEN3 and the Light Particles Telescope. The CARMEN3 helps

improve knowledge of specific aggressive radiations in the satellite’s orbit. According to Liu

et al., the satellite’s orbit is non-Sun-synchronous that takes about 2 hours to revolve around

the Earth, that is a distance of 1336 km. It has an inclination of 66.038o with an orbital repeat

cycle of about 9.9 days (Liu et al.). The satellite is 510 kg in mass, has a power of 703 W,

uses a S-Band telemetry (telecommand – 4 kbits/s and telemetry – 838.86 kbits/s) and has a

size of 3.8 x 10 x 2 meters when it is entirely deployed in its orbit. The Jason-3 mission was

launched in California (Vandenberg Air Force Base) and used the Falcon 9 as the launch

vehicle. The mission is expected to last for 5 years.

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Works Cited

Biancamaria, Sylvain et al. "Validation Of Jason-3 Tracking Modes Over French

Rivers." Remote Sensing of Environment 209 (2018): 77-89. Web.

Liu, Mingming et al. "Research On Attitude Models And Antenna Phase Center Correction

For Jason-3 Satellite Orbit Determination." Sensors 19.10 (2019): 2408. Web. 3 Oct.

2019.

Scharroo, R. et al. "Jason Continuity Of Services: Continuing The Jason Altimeter Data

Records As Copernicus Sentinel-6." Ocean Science Discussions 12.6 (2016): 2931-

2953. Web.

Zawadzki, L., and M. Ablain. "Accuracy Of The Mean Sea Level Continuous Record With

Future Altimetric Missions: Jason-3 Vs. Sentinel-3A." Ocean Science

Discussions 12.4 (2015): 1511-1536. Web. 3 Oct. 2019.