DEMETER (Detection of Electro-Magnetic Emissions Transmitted from Earthquake Regions) was a French micro-satellite operated by CNES devoted to the investigation of the ionospheric disturbances due to seismic and volcanic activity.
It was launched on June 29, 2004, on a quasi Sun-synchronous circular orbit with an inclination of about 98.23° and an altitude of about 710 km. The altitude was changed to about 660 km in December 2005.
Due to the specific orbit, DEMETER was always located either shortly before the local noon (10:30 local time) or local midnight (22:30 local time). The satellite performs 14 orbits per day and measures continuously between -65° and +65° of invariant latitude.[1]
DEMETER observed an increase in ultra low frequency radio waves in the month before the 2010 Haiti earthquake.[2]
During the 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi, DEMETER noted anomalies in the ionosphere.[3]
Scientific operations ended December 9, 2010.[4]
Due to the limited capacity of the telemetry, there were two different modes of operation:
← 2003 · Orbital launches in 2004 · 2005 → | |
---|---|
Estrela do Sul 1 | Progress M1-11 | AMC-10 | USA-176 | Molniya-1 No.93 | Rosetta (Philae) | MBSat | Eutelsat W3A | USA-177 | Globus No.17L | Superbird-A2 | Tansuo 1 · Naxing 1 | Soyuz TMA-4 | Gravity Probe B | Ekspress AM-11 | DirecTV-7S | AMC-11 | Formosat-2 | Progress M-49 | Kosmos 2405 | Kosmos 2406 | Intelsat 10-02 | USA-178 | Telstar 18 | Demeter · AprizeSat-1 · AprizeSat-2 · Saudisat-2 · SaudiComsat-1 · SaudiComsat-2 · UniSat-3 · AMSAT-Echo | Aura | Anik F2 | Kosmos 2407 | Tan Ce 2 | MESSENGER | Amazonas 1 | Progress M-50 | FSW-19 | USA-179 | Ofek-6 | Shijian 6A · Shijian 6B | GSAT-3 / EDUSAT | Kosmos 2408 · Kosmos 2409 | Kosmos 2410 | FSW-20 | Soyuz TMA-5 | AMC-15 | Feng Yun 2C | Ekspress AM-1 | Zi Yuan 2C | USA-180 | Tansuo 2 | Swift | AMC-16 | Helios IIA · Nanosat 01 · Essaim 1 · Essaim 2 · Essaim 3 · Essaim 4 · Parasol | HLVOLSDP · Sparkie · Ralphie | Progress M-51 | Sich-1M · MK-1TS | Kosmos 2411 · Kosmos 2412 · Kosmos 2413 | |
Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( | ). Crewed flights are indicated in underline. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in brackets. |