A Russian booster rocket has carried a European environmental satellite into orbit.

The European Space Agency’s Sentinel-5P satellite was launched Friday by a Rokot missile from the Plesetsk launch pad in northwestern Russia. The satellite will map the global atmosphere every day, helping study air pollution.

The mission will contribute to volcanic ash monitoring for aviation safety and for services that warn of high levels of UV radiation causing skin damage. The measurements also will help understand processes in the atmosphere related to the climate and to the formation of holes in the ozone layer.

It’s the sixth satellite in the ESA’s Copernicus program. Other Earth-observing Sentinel satellites launched earlier provide radar and optical imagery of the Earth, and monitor the condition of the world’s oceans and ice sheets.

source: Alarabiya