Sentinel-4

Mission Profile

Sentinel-4 is an ESA instrument planned for hosting on a Meteosat Third Generation - Sounder (MTG-S) satellite, dedicated to monitoring atmospheric composition — particularly air quality pollutants including ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and aerosols — over Europe and adjacent regions from geostationary orbit. Unlike earlier Sentinel atmospheric missions in low Earth orbit, Sentinel-4's geostationary position enables hourly monitoring of atmospheric chemistry variations throughout the daylight hours, providing a near-real-time view of pollution events, photochemical processes, and volcanic emissions at continental scale. The instrument will provide operational support to European air quality authorities and emergency services while feeding climate models with continuous atmospheric chemistry data.