“The St3TART-FO project, the successor to the St3TART initiative (2021-2023), officially launched on May 17th, 2024. Building on the work laid by its predecessor, St3TART-FO aims to operationally provide Fiducial Reference Measurements (FRM) to support the validation and exploitation of Sentinel-3 SAR altimeter Hydro-Cryo Thematic data products over inland waters, sea ice, and land ice.
A consortium of 15 European institutions and companies led by NOVELTIS is collaborating on this project. As the project enters its fifth month since kick-off, the team is diligently preparing FRM sites and campaigns while establishing the data infrastructure necessary for operational readiness by the first quarter of 2025.
By successfully operationalizing FRM provision, St3TART-FO will not only support the Sentinel-3 mission but also lay the groundwork for future altimetry missions such as CryoSat-2, ICESat-2, CRISTAL, S3 Next-Generation Topography and the Copernicus CIMR expansion mission.”
