European Space Agency: Earth Observation

Observing the Earth

• Envisat helps improve safety in icy Southern Ocean
  An award-winning new website is using realtime imagery from ESA's Envisat satellite to provide a wealth of information on sea ice to aid safe passage through the treacherous waters of the Antarctic.
  
  
• EC Vice-President Tajani visits ESA's Centre for Earth Observation
  As a strong supporter of the benefits that space industry can bring to Europe, Vice-President of the European Commission and European Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, Antonio Tajani, visited ESA's ESRIN establishment in Italy today.
  
  
• Great strides for GMES
  While the recent Living Planet Symposium focused mainly on the latest findings on Earth's environment and climate using data from Earth observation satellites, it also provided the forum to present the progress that the GMES initiative has made since the last symposium in 2007.
  
  
• Scientists receive first CryoSat-2 data
  A better understanding of how Earth's ice fields are changing has come another step closer as the first data from ESA's ice mission are released to selected scientists around the world for fine-tuning.
  
  
• Scientists talk about ESA’s ‘workhorses’ in space
  While much of the focus of ESA’s Living Planet Symposium was on the recently launched Earth Explorers, the 19-year heritage of the ERS and Envisat missions served as the scientific backbone throughout the symposium.
  
  
• Agreement between ESA and EMSA furthers maritime safety
  ESA and the European Maritime Safety Agency have signed a further Agreement to ensure that satellite data are available to enhance maritime safety and help combat pollution from shipping.
  
  
• Revisit the Living Planet Symposium
  More than 1400 scientists and users from around the world gathered this past week in Bergen, Norway, for ESA’s Living Planet Symposium to present their latest findings on Earth's environment and climate using data from observation satellites. Selected highlights from the symposium were streamed live on the web and are now available for replay.
  
  
• Revisit the Living Planet Symposium
  More than 1400 scientists and users from around the world gathered this past week in Bergen, Norway, for ESA’s Living Planet Symposium to present their latest findings on Earth's environment and climate using data from observation satellites. Selected highlights from the symposium were streamed live on the web and are now available for replay.
  
  
• CryoSat-2 exceeding expectations
  Today, participants at the Living Planet Symposium have been hearing about ESA's most recently launched mission, CryoSat-2. In orbit for almost three months, the satellite is in excellent health with scientists very encouraged by the first ice-thickness data presented at the symposium.
  
  
• SMOS shines at symposium
  Today, a focus at ESA's Living Planet Symposium is on the innovative SMOS mission, which recently became operational. Early results are proving very encouraging with its first observations due to be released in early July.
  
  
• MetOp-B is ESA test centre’s latest task of busy year
  The Payload Module of the giant MetOp-B weather satellite has been lowered into ESA’s largest vacuum chamber. ESTEC Test Centre engineers will be subjecting it to prolonged space conditions – their latest assignment in a busy year.
  
  
• GOCE giving new insights into Earth’s gravity
  The first global gravity model based on GOCE satellite data has been presented at ESA’s Living Planet Symposium. ESA launched GOCE in March 2009 to map Earth's gravity with unprecedented accuracy and resolution.
  
  
• ESA's biggest scientific symposium gets underway
  More than 1200 scientists from around the world have gathered in Bergen, Norway, for ESA’s week-long Living Planet Symposium to present their latest findings on Earth's environment and climate using data from observation satellites.
  
  
• Call for Media: ESA’s Living Planet Symposium, Bergen, 28 June–2 July
  ESA PR 11-2010. The media are invited to ESA's largest scientific event of the year: the Living Planet Symposium, in Bergen, Norway. The symposium covers all areas of Earth observation, highlighting the results and ESA’s planned missions, as well as bringing together the key scientists and decision-makers worldwide.
  
  
• Polar scientists herald importance of satellite observations
  As Arctic sea-ice recedes inexorably towards another record summer minimum, scientists have highlighted the exceptional contribution that satellites have made to the International Polar Year and charting the effects of climate change.
  
  
• ESA makes first GOCE dataset available
  The first products based on GOCE satellite data are now available online through ESA’s Earth observation user services tools. ESA launched the satellite in March 2009 on a mission to map Earth's gravity with unprecedented accuracy and spatial resolution.
  
  
• Experts gather as volcanic dust settles
  Following the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajoekull volcano that spewed huge amounts of ash and grounded numerous flights, more than 50 experts from around the world gathered at a workshop organised by ESA and EUMETSAT to discuss what has been learned and identify future opportunities for volcanic ash monitoring.
  
  
• Earth observation conference at ILA
  ESA will host an Earth observation conference at the ILA Berlin Air Show to present how it is responding to the increasing demand for remote-sensing data as decision-makers are faced with environmental change, natural disasters and civil security issues.
  
  
• ESA's SMOS water mission goes live
  ESA's SMOS satellite completed its six-month commissioning this week and formally began operational life. This milestone means the mission is now set to provide much-needed global images of soil moisture and ocean salinity to improve our understanding of the water cycle.
  
  
• Gulf of Mexico oil spill in the Loop Current
  Scientists monitoring the US oil spill with ESA’s Envisat radar satellite say that it has entered the Loop Current, a powerful conveyor belt that flows clockwise around the Gulf of Mexico towards Florida.
  
  
• New global network validates SMOS soil moisture data
  As ESA's SMOS mission nears the end of its commissioning, a new network will provide harmonised global datasets of soil moisture measurements collected from the ground, ensuring the data received from space are as accurate as possible.
  
  
• Envisat monitors oil spill proximity to Loop Current
  As fears grow that the Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico could soon catch the oil slick and drag it south towards coral reefs in the Florida Keys, scientists are monitoring the situation closely with ESA’s Envisat radar data.
  
  
• Envisat monitoring changes in oil spill
  ESA’s Envisat has captured the changes in direction of the rapidly-growing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as strong winds over the weekend pushed it around and hampered clean-up efforts.
  
  
• Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico nears the coast
  In this latest image acquired by ESA’s Envisat on Thursday at 16:23 UTC, oil from the massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico can be seen as a dark blue swirl advancing toward the Louisiana coast.
  
  
• ESA calls for Sentinel-3 Mission Advisory Group members
  Within the framework of the GMES initiative, ESA is developing a series of ‘Sentinel’ satellites. As part of this development process, the Agency has released a call for Mission Advisory Group members for the Sentinel-3 mission.
  
  
• ESA missions extend fibre optics to orbit
  ESA’s SMOS satellite is on the verge of beginning its operational life, returning snapshots of Earth’s watery 'skin'. The water mission’s success has been made possible by a particular technical distinction: the first mission-critical use of fibre optics.
  
  
• ESA’s Envisat monitors oil spill
  These ESA Envisat images capture the oil that is spilling into the Gulf of Mexico after a drilling rig exploded and sank off the coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi, USA, on 22 April.
  
  
• ESA's CryoSat-2 and NASA's DC-8 star in Arctic cooperation
  Taking advantage of NASA's 'Operation Ice Bridge' campaign, measurements of Arctic sea ice have been made from an aircraft flying directly under CryoSat-2's orbital path. These measurements offer an early opportunity to check the quality of the newly launched CryoSat-2 satellite data over sea ice.
  
  
• New tools aid volcanic ash monitoring
  While satellites are providing an ideal way of monitoring the cloud of volcanic ash sweeping across much of Europe recently, a ground-based network of lidar instruments has also been providing a valuable source of information to help meteorologists assess this unprecedented event.
  
  
• ESA Euronews: Tomorrow’s weather
  More than 30 years ago, the first meteorological satellite Meteosat revolutionised weather forecasting. Since then, predictions have become more and more reliable.
  
  
• ESA's ice mission delivers first data
  ESA's CryoSat-2 has delivered its first data just hours after ground controllers switched on the satellite's sophisticated radar instrument for the first time. CryoSat-2 was launched on 8 April and has been performing exceptionally well during these critical first few days in orbit.
  
  
• Eurockot to launch two ESA Earth observation missions
  ESA has awarded a contract to Eurockot for the launch of two of its Earth observation missions. The first will be the next Earth Explorer: Swarm, a constellation of three satellites to study Earth's magnetic field.
  
  
• Successful launch for ESA’s CryoSat-2 ice satellite
  ESA PR 07-2010. Europe's first mission dedicated to studying the Earth’s ice was launched today from Kazakhstan. From its polar orbit, CryoSat-2 will send back data leading to new insights into how ice is responding to climate change and the role it plays in our 'Earth system'.
  
  
• ESA calls for Sentinel-2 Mission Advisory Group members
  Within the framework of the GMES initiative, ESA is developing a series of ‘Sentinel’ satellites. As part of this development process, the Agency has released a call for Mission Advisory Group members for the Sentinel-2 mission.
  
  
• Astrium to build ESA's second Sentinel-2 satellite for GMES
  ESA has awarded a contract worth €105 million to Astrium to build the second Sentinel-2 satellite. Once both are operational, this pair of satellites will provide global coverage every five days, delivering high-resolution optical imagery for GMES land and emergency services.
  
  
• Campaign helps reveal secrets of upper atmosphere
  The first flight of an instrument on a high-altitude aircraft has shown that it can provide insight into the complexities of the upper atmosphere. This is crucial for the development of a candidate ESA mission aiming to provide vital clues on how atmospheric chemistry and climate are linked.
  
  
• ESA’s TIGER II to support 20 water projects in Africa
  ESA’s TIGER II initiative has selected 20 project proposals across Africa to receive support from Earth-observation technology to learn more about the water cycle and to improve water-monitoring resources.
  
  
• ESA and Thales Alenia Space enter negotiations for MTG
  The tendering process that will result in the supply of Europe's next series of meteorological satellites, Meteosat Third Generation, has reached an advanced stage as ESA invites Thales Alenia Space to enter formal contract negotiations.
  
  
• Campaign over ice sheets tests Aeolus technology
  In a recent airborne campaign, carried out by the German Aerospace Center DLR, the sophisticated lidar technology due to be employed on ESA's Aeolus mission was tested by measuring the strong icy winds that blow off the Greenland and Iceland ice fields.
  
  
• Signature secures future Sentinels for GMES
  Marking another significant step in the GMES initiative, ESA and Thales Alenia Space recently signed a contract worth €270 million to build the second Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-3 satellites.
  
  
• Conference highlights deepening connection between space and security
  Space experts met this week in Madrid to advance cooperation in GMES and Space Situational Awareness, programmes that are crucial for securing Europe's future. The event brought together policy makers from several organisations, including ESA Member States, the European Community and the European Defence Agency.
  
  
• Networking initiative to support interdisciplinary research
  Specialists from various Earth system science disciplines recently gathered to address a major question: what will our environment look like in the future?
  
  
• Australian field campaign validates SMOS data
  To ensure the integrity of an Earth observation mission, it is often essential to compare the data being delivered from space with measurements taken on the ground. Accordingly, the first field campaign to validate soil moisture data from ESA's SMOS mission has just been carried out 'down under'.
  
  
• ESA highlights the potential of satellite data for the European Investment Bank
  The European Investment Bank has an annual lending portfolio of around 75 billion euros, operating globally in more than 130 countries. The Bank has been increasingly mainstreaming environmental considerations into its lending portfolio, boosting the need to monitor the impact of the projects it funds. As its environmental commitments have increased, so too has the demand for geospatial information.
  
  
• First images from ESA’s water mission
  In less than four months since launch, the first calibrated images are being delivered by ESA’s SMOS mission. These images of 'brightness temperature' translate into clear information on global variations of soil moisture and ocean salinity to advance our understanding of the water cycle.
  
  
• Meteosat Third Generation takes a step forward
  Since the launch of the first Meteosat in 1977, 33 years of imagery combined with increasing computer power have given meteorologists the tools to improve weather forecasting, with direct benefits for us.
  
  
• New findings benefit future lidar missions
  A recent experiment to study how light 'scatters' in the atmosphere has improved a mathematical model, which is widely used to interpret measurements taken by lidar instruments, such as those carried on ESA’s ADM-Aeolus and EarthCARE missions.
  
  
• Weather satellite sets new service record
  Europe’s series of Meteosat satellites has been improving the accuracy of weather forecasts for over 30 years. Meteosat-6 has recently broken the record for the operational life of one of these robust missions.
  
  
• Swarm science meeting – presentations now available online
  Following ESA’s Second Swarm International Science Meeting held last summer in Germany, 88 of the presentations given at the three-day meeting are now available online.
  
  
• Water cycle conference makes a big splash
  Earth has a limited amount of water that recycles itself in what is called the 'water cycle'. Climate change, weather and human life are highly affected by changes in this continuous, interconnected cycle.