Sentinel-3 is an Earth observation heavy satellite series developed by the European Space Agency as part of the Copernicus Programme.

The satellites use multiple sensors to measure topography, temperature, marine ecosystems, water quality, pollution, and other features for ocean forecasting and environmental monitoring.

[9] Bruno Berruti led the team that was responsible for delivering the Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellites from the drawing board into orbit.

[17][18] OLCI (Ocean and Land Colour Instrument) is a medium-resolution imaging spectrometer that uses five cameras to provide a wide field of view.

The OLCI is an along-track or "push broom" scanner, meaning that the sensor array is arranged perpendicular to the path of flight.

[19] This method essentially eliminates the scale distortion near the edge of an image that is common with across-track or "whisk broom" scanners.

Due to climate changing factors, inland coastal regions have become an increased area of concern, and from 2002 to 2012 the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) provided quality observations for analysis.

The OLCI improves upon the MERIS in that it was built with six additional spectral bands, higher-end signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), reduced solar glar, a maximum of 300 m spatial resolution, and increased ground coverage allowing it to sense cyanobacteria levels within inland coastal ecosystems.

It uses dual-frequency Ku and C band and is supported by a microwave radiometer (MWR) for atmospheric correction and a DORIS receiver for orbit positioning.

This includes monitoring the health of the satellite and the instruments, and coordinates housekeeping telemetry and commands at the main flight control center in Darmstadt, Germany.

The Ocean and Land Color Instrument (OLCI) has a 300 m (980 ft) resolution with 21 distinct bands allowing global coverage in less than four days.

Sentinel-3 also has the ability to detect changes in sea-surface height and sea-ice using the synthetic aperture radar altimeter and the microwave radiometer, two of the most complex sensors on the satellite.