Pasadena’s JPL Powers Sentinel-6B Satellite to Advance Hurricane Forecasting

Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena is providing critical instrumentation and mission support for Sentinel-6B, a U.S.—European satellite set to launch no earlier than Nov. 16 from Vandenberg Space Force Base aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket this November. The satellite will enhance hurricane intensity forecasting by measuring global sea surface height.

Sentinel-6B is the second spacecraft in the Sentinel-6/Jason-CS mission, a collaboration among NASA, the European Space Agency, EUMETSAT and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It will continue the work of its twin, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, which launched in 2020, extending a decades-long dataset of ocean surface measurements used to track climate trends and predict extreme weather.

NASA has a long record of monitoring Earth’s sea surface height, a metric critical not only for tracking ocean changes over time but also for forecasting hurricane intensity. These extreme storms can cost the United States billions of dollars each year, wreaking havoc on lives and property, according to a NASA release. Meteorologists use sea surface height to identify regions of warm ocean water that can rapidly intensify hurricanes. Warm water fuels these storms, and since water expands as it heats, elevated sea surface height is a key indicator of potential hurricane growth.

“Sentinel-6 will track global changes in Earth’s ocean — height, heat, and movement — and will improve forecasts of local extremes like floods and hurricanes, linking planetary trends to real-world risks for communities,” said Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, Sentinel-6 program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena is contributing three key science instruments to Sentinel-6B:

The Advanced Microwave Radiometer, a multi-spectral passive microwave radiometer that corrects radar altimeter measurements by accounting for atmospheric water vapor. The instrument includes an experimental High-Resolution Microwave Radiometer for enhanced measurements in coastal zones.

The Global Navigation Satellite System—Radio Occultation, which measures the delay of radio signals between Sentinel-6B and global navigation satellites as they pass through atmospheric layers. It provides detailed temperature and humidity profiles and helps improve weather prediction models by analyzing changes in GPS and GLONASS satellite signals.

The Laser Retroreflector Array, a passive instrument that supports precise orbit determination by reflecting laser pulses from ground-based tracking stations.

In addition to developing these instruments, Jet Propulsion Laboratory is coordinating launch services, operating ground systems for NASA science instruments and providing science data processors for two of the instruments. The lab also supports the international ocean surface topography community.

Visual data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, included in the mission materials, illustrates how hurricanes like Hurricane Milton intensified rapidly over warm ocean regions, as seen in satellite imagery and ocean heat maps from October 2024. These tools underscore the importance of sea surface height data in forecasting storm behavior.

Sentinel-6B’s data will be integrated into forecasting tools used by agencies worldwide, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Jet Propulsion Laboratory continues to play a significant role in Earth science missions, contributing technical expertise and instrumentation to projects with global impact.