ESA Observing the Earth

Earth from Space

Start of service for Europe’s SpaceDataHighway

The European Data Relay System began servicing Europe’s Earth observing Copernicus programme yesterday, transferring observations in quasi-real time using cutting-edge laser technology. 

Early warning from space of homes on the slide

It was a literal property crash: multiple homes in the Cármenes del Mar resort on the south coast of Spain were engulfed in a landslide, leaving families homeless. But satellite archives offer early warning of such events – and now more accessible than ever before thanks to a new cloud computing platform.

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

New map offers precise snapshot of human life on Earth

A landmark global map showing nearly every human settlement on Earth is now available to researchers. Compared to previous mapping efforts, the satellite-based ‘Global Urban Footprint’ dataset shows not just urban centres, but also tiny rural hamlets.

Gibson Desert

Earth from Space

Data release

Sentinel sees us

Probing Greenland’s ice sheet for future satellites

With a helicopter the sole feature on the vast expanse of ice and her only way back to warmth and safety, polar scientist Anna Hogg must have thought, “What on Earth am I doing out here?” as she set to taking ice samples.

Farewell to Sentinel-2B

Just weeks before Sentinel-2B is packed up and sent to French Guiana for its launch next March, media representatives and specialists got one last look at the second satellite for Europe’s Copernicus programme. 

Space agencies combine efforts for space hydrology

Heads of space agencies are meeting today in Marrakesh, Morocco at the COP22 climate change summit to reaffirm their commitment to a coordinated approach for monitoring Earth’s climate, with particular focus on the water cycle.

Refurbished GEOSS portal now online

A new and improved version of the GEOSS web portal is ready to provide users with faster, more intuitive access to the ever-growing wealth of diverse Earth observation resources worldwide.

Virunga Mountains

Earth from Space

Call for Media

Iceberg patrol gains faster updates from orbit

The international iceberg patrol service set up after the sinking of the Titanic is now able to track drifting ice from orbit more swiftly through ESA-backed cloud computing.

ESA and Asian Development Bank join forces

ESA and the Asian Development Bank have signed an agreement to collaborate over the next five years to use information from space to support sustainable development.

ESA and SAP launch new service for analysing satellite data

ESA and the software company SAP have announced the Earth Observation Analysis service for the quick, easy consumption of Earth observation satellite data according to customer needs.

ESA at COP22 climate change summit

The COP22 climate change summit opened today in Marrakesh, Morocco. ESA is joining international partners to report on the status of space-based climate research and propose improvements to how climate data are collected and distributed.

Deal signed for FLEX’s fluorescence finder

ESA has selected Italian company Leonardo to build the main instrument for the upcoming FLEX satellite to study the health of Earth’s vegetation.

Explore Morocco

Explore Morocco

Explore Morocco

ESA and the Vatican join forces to save data in the digital age

At a ceremony held in Vatican City today, ESA and the Vatican Apostolic Library have agreed to continue their years-long cooperation on the preservation, management and exploitation of archived information.

Pío XI

Sentinel satellites reveal east–west shift in Italian quake

New information on the effects of the 30 October earthquake that struck central Italy continues to emerge as scientists analyse radar scans from satellites.

Earth from Space

Italy on the move

Swarm reveals why satellites lose track

Satellite engineers have been puzzling over why GPS navigation systems on low-orbiting satellites like ESA’s Swarm sometimes black out when they fly over the equator between Africa and South America. Thanks to Swarm, it appears ‘thunderstorms’ in the ionosphere are to blame.

Keep an automatic eye on seismic zones

The Copernicus Sentinel-1 twin radar satellites combined with cloud computing are monitoring Europe’s earthquake zones by searching for ground shifts as small as a millimetre. 

Putorana Plateau

Earth from Space

Sentinel Hub wins Copernicus Masters prize

A cloud-based web service that allows non-expert users to browse, process and distribute large amounts of Earth observation data takes home this year’s Copernicus Masters grand prize.

Fish farms guided by Sentinels and the cloud

A new service harnesses three decades of satellite observations of coastal zones made available through a cloud-based system to provide a rich information source for fisheries, one of our fastest growing sources of food.

Kathmandu

Earth from Space

Earth’s most active volcanoes on satellite watch

As hundreds flee lava and ash spewed from Mexico’s Colima volcano, its continuing eruption is being tracked not only by ground instruments but also from space. Starting last month, Colima is one of 22 active volcanoes worldwide being monitored by satellites.

Earth from Space

Sentinel-3A Earth colour data released

Today, the Copernicus Sentinel-3A satellite has taken another step towards being fully ‘operational’ as the first data from its Ocean and Land Colour Instrument are made available to monitor the health of our planet.

Sentinel-2 website

Copernicus Sentinel-2

Sentinel-1 mission site with icon

Copernicus Sentinel-1

Sentinel-1 mission site with icon

Copernicus Sentinel-1