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During its commissioning phase, the Copernicus Sentinel-3B satellite has been placed in a tandem formation with Sentinel-3A for a period of 6 months. This configuration allowed a direct comparison of measurements obtained by the two satellites. The purpose of this paper was to present the range of analyses that can be performed from this dataset, highlighting methodology aspects and the main outcomes for each instrument. We examined, in turn, the benefit of the tandem in understanding instrument operational modes differences, in assessing inter-satellite differences, and in validating measurement uncertainties. The results highlighted the very good consistency of the Sentinel-3A and B instruments, ensuring the complete inter-operability of the constellation. Tandem comparisons also pave the way for further improvements through harmonization of the sensors (OLCI), correction of internal stray-light sources (SLSTR), or high-frequency processing of SRAL SARM data. This paper provided a comprehensive overview of the main results obtained, as well as insights into some of the results. Finally, we drew the main lessons learned from the Sentinel-3 tandem phase and provided recommendations for future missions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sentinel-3 tandem project represents the first time that two ocean colour satellites have been flown in the same orbit with minimal temporal separation (~30 s), thus allowing them to have virtually identical views of the ocean. This offers an opportunity for understanding how differences in individual sensor uncertainty can affect conclusions drawn from the data. Here, we specifically focus on trend estimation. Observational chlorophyll-a uncertainty is assessed from the Sentinel-3A Ocean and Land Colour Imager (OLCI-A) and Sentinel-3B OLCI (OLCI-B) sensors using a bootstrapping approach. Realistic trends are then imposed on a synthetic chlorophyll-a time series to understand how sensor uncertainty could affect potential long-term trends in Sentinel-3 OLCI data. We find that OLCI-A and OLCI-B both show very similar trends, with the OLCI-B trend estimates tending to have a slightly wider distribution, although not statistically different from the OLCI-A distribution. The spatial pattern of trend estimates is also assessed, showing that the probability distributions of trend estimates in OLCI-A and OLCI-B are most similar in open ocean regions, and least similar in coastal regions and at high northern latitudes. This analysis shows that the two sensors should provide consistent trends between the two satellites, provided future ageing is well quantified and mitigated. The Sentinel-3 programme offers a strong baseline for estimating long-term chlorophyll-a trends by offering a series of satellites (starting with Sentinel-3A and Sentinel-3B) that use the same sensor design, reducing potential issues with cross-calibration between sensors. This analysis contributes an important understanding of the reliability of the two current Sentinel-3 OLCI sensors for future studies of climate change driven chlorophyll-a trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]