VENµS mission in New Zealand

The Vegetation and Environment monitoring on a New Micro-Satellite (VENμS) is a microsatellite jointly built by the Israeli Space Agency (ISA) and Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES).

It was launched in 2017 with a technological mission to test a new Hall effect thruster.

Prior to this, VENμS embarked a super spectral camera with 12 narrow spectral bands in the VNIR spectrum for to complete a 2-year environmental monitoring scientific mission.

With 2-day revisit under constant viewing geometry, VENμS delivers imagery for more than 100 areas of interest including two sites enrolled by the University of Otago to shed new light on the dynamics of New Zealand glaciers.

MRC has compiled the VENμS records (L2A) for both New Zealand AOIs. Check out below the 2.5 year time series with a few highlights of processes at work in our mountains.

• Haupapa/Tasman glacier, Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park (NEWZEL01/ZEL01MW2)
• Brewster Glacier, Mount Aspiring National Park (NEWZEL36)

Value-added data processed by CNES for the Theia data centre www.theia-land.fr using data from the VENμS satellite of CNES and the Israel Space Agency. The processing uses algorithms developed by Theia's Scientific Expertise Centres.

Haupapa/Tasman glacier, Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park (NEWZEL01/ZEL01MW2)

Brewster Glacier, Mount Aspiring National Park (NEWZEL36)