Sentinel-3 satellites accelerate wildfire data delivery in Europe

The European Space Agency (ESA) and Eumetsat have implemented a new data transmission strategy for the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission, significantly accelerating the delivery of information to emergency services. By optimizing how data is downloaded and transmitted when the satellite is within range of the ground station in Svalbard, Norway, the time required to deliver imagery of Central and Southern Europe has been reduced from three hours to between 60 and 90 minutes.

This improvement allows for a faster response to forest fires, which is particularly critical in sparsely populated areas. The new process, which has been in orbital use since August 3, enables the satellite to collect and transmit data almost simultaneously. This technical adjustment addresses requests from Copernicus program participants to improve crisis management capabilities during wildfire seasons.