ESA Observing the Earth

Happy Earth Day

Perseverance paves way for wind laser

Developing new satellite instruments is always challenging, but at times more head-scratching is needed to create something truly cutting-edge. ESA’s Aeolus mission may have caused a few headaches along the way, but its wind lasers are now ready and the task of putting the rest of the instrument together can begin for launch in 2016.

Perseverance paves way for wind laser

Developing new satellite instruments is always challenging, but at times more head-scratching is needed to create something truly cutting-edge. ESA’s Aeolus mission may have caused a few headaches along the way, but its wind lasers are now ready and the task of putting the rest of the instrument together can begin so that it can be ready for launch in 2016.

Fast access to CryoSat’s Arctic ice measurements now available

ESA’s ice mission has become the first satellite to provide information on Arctic sea-ice thickness in near-real time to aid maritime activities in the polar region.

Central/southern Italy

GOCE helps tap into sustainable energy resources

Going far above and beyond its original mission objectives, results from the GOCE gravity satellite are now being used to produce maps for geothermal energy development.

Copernicus Masters competition now accepting submissions

In its fifth year, the Copernicus Masters competition is open again. Ideas for services, business concepts and applications based on satellite Earth observation data are now being accepted.

Calling all photographers!

For the launch of Sentinel-2A, ESA is inviting you to take part in a photo contest focusing on the theme of ‘colour vision’. Enter for a chance to win a trip to ESA’s operations centre for the satellite’s launch event.

Calling all photographers!

For the launch of Sentinel-2A, ESA is inviting you to take part in a photo contest focusing on the theme of ‘colour vision’. Enter for a chance to win a trip to ESA’s operations centre for the satellite’s launch event.

Patagonian glaciers

Earth from Space

Last stretch before being packed tight

Once in space, Sentinel-2A will open its solar wing to generate the power it needs to carry out the task of monitoring Earth’s vegetation. Engineers have recently made sure this move is well rehearsed before the satellite is packed up and shipped to the launch site.

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

Happy birthday, Sentinel-1A

Having orbited Earth more than 5300 times while providing radar vision for Europe’s Copernicus programme, the Sentinel-1A satellite has completed a successful first year.

A year of radar vision

Icy Baikal

Earth from Space

Earth shifts in colour

Psychedelic seabed

Earth from Space

Antarctic flow

Slight surface movements on the radar

Scientists are making advances in the use of satellite radar data – such as those from the Sentinel-1 mission – to monitor Earth’s changing surface.

Campi Flegrei rising

Follow Fringe

Ulan Bator

Earth from Space

UK joins Sentinel Collaborative Ground Segment

ESA and the UK Space Agency have signed an arrangement that establishes access to data from the Sentinel satellites, marking a significant step in their exploitation.

France guaranteed access to Sentinel data

With the second Copernicus-dedicated Sentinel satellite just months away from launch, ESA and France’s CNES space agency, have signed a collaborative agreement on managing and accessing Sentinel data.

Ice venturers yield results for CryoSat

Trekking to the far reaches of the Arctic for the sole purpose of collecting snow and ice measurements may seem extreme, but it is thanks to these efforts that scientists will soon have even better satellite information at their fingertips to assess changes in polar ice.

Mapping sea surface from the Space Station

A new concept that involves mounting an instrument on the International Space Station and taking advantage of signals from navigation satellites could provide measurements of sea-surface height and information about features related to ocean currents, benefiting science and ocean forecasting.

Lagoon of tears

Save the date: selection of ESA’s eighth Earth Explorer

The date has been set for the Earth observation science community to meet and discuss the merits and express their views of the FLEX and CarbonSat mission concepts before one is finally selected to be built as ESA’s next Earth Explorer satellite.

Meet Mr Copernicus

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

Hungarian mosaic

Villarrica on the radar

Earth from Space

Honing skills

Honing skills

ESA App Camp brings satellite data to mobile devices

Developers of apps that use satellite data to assist the agricultural industry took home the top two prizes at this year’s ESA App Camp in Barcelona.

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

Brussels

Earth from Space

European Data Relay System confirms services for Copernicus in cooperation with the European Commission

Following the recent decision confirming the ESA/Airbus Defence and Space (Airbus DS) partnership on the European Data Relay System (EDRS), agreement has been reached with the European Commission (EC) for the provision of EDRS services to the European Union Copernicus programme.

Last look at Sentinel-2A

Before Sentinel-2A is packed up and shipped to French Guiana for its launch targeted on 12 June, media representatives and specialists got one last look at the second satellite for Europe’s Copernicus programme.

Shifting lands

Estonian mosaic

ESA’s Biomass satellite goes ahead

Following the initial selection in 2013 for Biomass to become ESA’s seventh Earth Explorer mission and the completion of preparatory activities, ESA Member States yesterday gave the green light for its full implementation for launch in 2020.

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

Happy Chinese New Year

SMOS on acid

With fundamental changes happening to the chemistry of the world’s oceans, salinity information from ESA’s SMOS mission is being used with other Earth observation data to obtain information on ‘the other carbon dioxide problem’ – ocean acidification.

Heart of Voh

Call for Media

Desert reservoir

Earth from Space

Sentinel-2 practises laser spin

As Sentinel-2A nears the end of testing before being shipped to its launch site, one of the last jobs has been to make sure the satellite’s laser terminal is up to the job of delivering large volumes of data at breakneck speed.

Have your say

Retreating glaciers

36 years of radar vision

ESA has recently recovered imagery from the oldest synthetic aperture radar – or SAR – in space, renewing our view of a changing Earth.

Lisbon

Earth from Space

Plant power from above

Field experiments have shown how ESA’s potential FLEX mission could identify vegetation that is suffering degrees of stress invisible to the naked eye.

Appathon success

Mapping forest structure from space

Over the last 10 years a new method using satellite radar data has been maturing to provide 3D views of Earth’s natural resources and urban environments. Scientists from around the world gathered recently to share the latest advances in the exciting technique of ‘POLinSAR’.

Corsican waters

Earth from Space

Aletsch

Satellites catch Austfonna shedding ice

Rapid ice loss in a remote Arctic ice cap has been detected by the Sentinel-1A and CryoSat satellites.

Satellites catch Austfonna shedding ice

Rapid ice loss in a remote Arctic ice cap has been detected by the Sentinel-1A and CryoSat satellites.

Monitoring sea ice

Earth from Space

Green Caspian

Snowy Pyrenees

Is Europe an underestimated sink for carbon dioxide?

A new study using satellite data suggests that Europe’s vegetation extracts more carbon from the atmosphere than previously thought.

Satellites guide sailor from treacherous waters

While sailing south of Africa on an around-the-world voyage, Matteo Miceli was suddenly alerted to a massive iceberg in his path.

Eye-catching Earth

Peek into the past

Satellites for Santa

Christmas wrapping

Earth from Space

Salinity matters

Measurements of salt held in surface seawater are becoming ever-more important for us to understand ocean circulation and Earth’s water cycle. ESA’s SMOS mission is proving essential to the quest.

Salinity matters

Measurements of salt held in surface seawater are becoming ever-more important for us to understand ocean circulation and Earth’s water cycle. ESA’s SMOS mission is proving essential to the quest.

Pinpointing displacement

CryoSat extends its reach on the Arctic

CryoSat has delivered this year’s map of autumn sea-ice thickness in the Arctic, revealing a small decrease in ice volume. In a new phase for ESA’s ice mission, the measurements can now also be used to help vessels navigate through the north coastal waters of Alaska, for example.

Colours of Borneo

Mexico City subsidence

Tapping into Earth observation data for international development

A new initiative brings ESA and the Asian Development Bank together to exploit satellite Earth observation data for sustainable growth.

Earth from Space

Monitoring soil moisture

Romanian mosaic

Sentinel-3 fully formed

For more than 18 months, engineers have been carefully piecing together the many components that make up ESA’s Sentinel-3A satellite. Now hosting an array of instruments to provide a wealth of information about Earth’s oceans and land, the satellite is complete, standing proud for testing.

Earth from Space

On solid ground

Lovers of architecture and history can rest easy: the stability of historical buildings can now be monitored in real time by a new technique with its roots in space.

Timing carbon turnover

Scientists are using satellite data to improve understanding of the time it takes for a carbon atom fixed in a plant by photosynthesis to return into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide – known as ‘carbon turnover’.

GOCE iBook

GOCE iBook

Fogo volcano on Sentinel’s radar

Radar images from the Sentinel-1A satellite are helping to monitor ground movements of the recently erupted Fogo volcano.

Linked by laser

Attention app developers

Laser link offers high-speed delivery

Marking a first in space, Sentinel-1A and Alphasat have linked up by laser stretching almost 36 000 km across space to deliver images of Earth just moments after they were captured.

Tropical thaw

Earth from Space

Understanding the ‘OC’ in GOCE

A year after the satellite reentered the atmosphere, scientists using data from the GOCE satellite have made a breakthrough in our understanding of ocean currents.

GOCE results live

Monitoring malaria

Megacity

Call for Media

Earth from Space

Watch live: BiDS ’14

Saharan scene

Watch live: BiDS ’14

Big data from space

Earth from Space

DLR and ESA sign the Collaborative Ground Segment Cooperation for Sentinel data

With the first Copernicus satellite now operational, ESA and the DLR German Aerospace Center have signed an arrangement on managing and accessing Sentinel data.

Dead Sea

Earth from Space