Harmony: science objectives and mission overview

Abstract

Harmony was one of the three missions that was selected as ESA Earth Explorer 10 mission candidates. After a down-selection process at the end of the Phase-0 studies, Harmony, proceeded as the only remaining candidate to a Phase-A, which will close in the summer 2022. This presentation gives an overview of the mission, reflecting its current status. The Earth is a highly dynamic system where transport and exchanges of energy and matter are regulated by a multitude of processes. The non-linear nature of the governing physics results in couplings between processes happening at a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, with cascades of energy flowing from the larger to the smaller scales and vice-versa. The Earth System cannot be understood or modeled without adequately accounting for small-scale processes. Indeed, the parameterisation of the unresolved, sub-grid physical processes in global or regional models remains one of the main sources of uncertainty in climate projections, in particular with respect to air-sea coupling, cryosphere and clouds Harmony is dedicated to the observation and quantification of small-scale motion and deformation fields, primarily, at the air-sea interface (winds, waves, and surface currents), of the solid Earth (tectonic strain), and in the cryosphere (glacier flows and surface height changes).