Based on the outstanding success of the first tandem mission between ERS-2 and Envisat last year, ESA has paired the two satellites together again to help improve our understanding of the planet.
A recent ESA campaign has demonstrated how a technique using lasers could be employed to measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The campaign supports one of the main objectives of the candidate Earth Explorer A-SCOPE mission.
The Arctic is undergoing rapid transformation due to climate change, pollution and human activity. ESA’s ERS and Envisat satellites have been providing satellite data of the region for the last 17 years. These long term data sets in combination with ESA’s future missions will be key in implementing the newly adopted European Commission policy called 'The European Union and the Arctic Region'.
Climate change, natural disasters, humanitarian crises - today's challenges require quick access to information about what's happening on the ground. A new European system will use satellite and terrestrial data to help the human response.
In connection with the Candidate Earth Explorer User Consultation meeting to be held on 20-21 January 2009 in Lisbon, Portugal, the Reports for Assessment for the six candidate missions are now available and downloadable from this website.
New rifts have developed on the Wilkins Ice Shelf that could lead to the opening of the ice bridge that has been preventing the ice shelf from disintegrating and breaking away from the Antarctic Peninsula.
ESA has launched a new initiative – the Changing Earth Science Network – to support young scientists undertaking leading-edge research activities aimed at advancing our understanding of the Earth System.
An ESA campaign carried out in Austria has demonstrated how snow, a key component in the Earth's water cycle and important source of fresh water, can be measured from space using radar. The campaign supports one of the main objectives of the candidate Earth Explorer CoReH2O.
Relying largely on satellite data, the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme will provide accurate and timely data to better manage the environment, understand and mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure civil security. Vodcast Play now | Download
Wetlands contribute to our lives in remarkable ways by providing food and water, controlling floods, protecting against storms and supporting biodiversity, yet they are experiencing loss and degradation on a massive scale.
Humanitarian aid workers responding to devastating flooding in Honduras have received assistance from space, with satellite images of affected areas provided rapidly following activation of the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters.
The thickness of sea ice in large parts of the Arctic declined by as much as 19% last winter compared to the previous five winters, according to data from ESA’s Envisat satellite.
The Russian authorities responsible for the Rockot launcher that shall carry ESA's GOCE Earth Explorer satellite into orbit have completed the investigation of a failure in the guidance and navigation system of the launcher's Upper Stage (Breeze KM).
Using space-based technology developed during ESA’s gravity mission studies, a novel gradiometer is being developed by a UK-based company to help oil and gas companies find the most appropriate locations to drill wells and plan further exploration.
How best to map ‘boreal’ or northern forest with spaceborne radar is the focus of an ESA campaign currently underway in northern Sweden. By answering this question, the campaign addresses one of the key objectives of the candidate Earth Explorer BIOMASS mission.
The foreseen 27 October launch date of GOCE has had to be postponed to allow the enquiry board time to conclude its work. A new launch date will be announced here as soon as possible.
The Earth Observation Handbook – just released and available online – explains the vital role played by Earth observation satellites in providing the information needed by governments and policymakers to make well-informed decisions for a sustainable future.
ESA and European industries have updated the planning of the preparatory activities for a new tentative launch date of 27 October 2008 for the GOCE satellite.
For most of us, a holiday means taking it easy. Not so for physicist Leanne Guy whose ardent interest in science and passion for the polar environment means she sometimes 'holidays' in the icy reaches of the Arctic. On a recent occasion, her drive and enthusiasm have also been of benefit to ESA.
Residents along the Gulf Coast are bracing for Hurricane Ike as it travels over the Gulf of Mexico after ripping through Cuba and Haiti. ESA’s Envisat satellite is tracking the storm, which is forecast to make landfall on the Texas coast by 13 September.
ESA PR 38-2008. On 16 and 17 September, in the context of France's presidency of the EU, Lille will play host to 'Forum GMES 2008' at the Grand Palais.
The preparatory activities for the launch of ESA's GOCE satellite from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia had to be stopped yesterday afternoon (Sunday 7 September) by Eurockot due to an anomaly identified in one of the units of the guidance and navigation subsystem of the launcher's Upper Stage (Breeze KM).
ESA, as coordinator of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) Space Component and related data access, received in response to a call 12 proposals offering to provide data from more than 40 European and non-European Earth Observation satellites to GMES Services over the next years.
As preparations for the launch of GOCE on 10 September continue on schedule, an important milestone has just been achieved as engineers at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia say farewell to the satellite as it is encapsulated in the two half-shells of the launcher's fairing.
ESA PR 34-2008. The European Space Agency is about to launch the most sophisticated mission ever to investigate the Earth’s gravitational field and to map the reference shape of our planet – the geoid - with unprecedented resolution and accuracy.
With less than a month remaining before the Beijing Olympics, Chinese officials have introduced a series of measures to improve air quality for the Games. A new tool has been installed in the capital city to allow the Chinese to monitor the effectiveness of these efforts.
When heatwaves strike, it's far more difficult to cope with stifling temperatures in built-up areas than it is out in the countryside. An ESA campaign has just been carried out to see if a spaceborne thermal infrared sensor could help policy makers and town planners reduce the number of casualties when temperatures soar.
As part of the Agency's user-driven approach to preparing new Earth Explorer missions to advance our understanding of the Earth system, six candidate missions will be presented to the science community at a User Consultation Meeting in January 2009.
Since the advent of Earth observation from space, satellite missions have become central to monitoring and learning about how the Earth works, resulting in significant progress in a broad range of scientific areas.
The Wilkins Ice Shelf is experiencing further disintegration that is threatening the collapse of the ice bridge connecting the shelf to Charcot Island. Since the connection to the island in the image centre helps to stabilise the ice shelf, it is likely the break-up of the bridge will put the remainder of the ice shelf at risk.
As ESA looks forward to the launch of its SMOS Earth Explorer next year, an extensive airborne campaign has just taken place over Germany, Spain and the Mediterranean Sea. The campaign rehearsed the complex procedures involved in validating the mission's data — data crucial for a better understanding of the Earth's water cycle.
While Beijing gears up for the start of the Olympics, the city recently played host to a workshop dedicated to ESA's water mission SMOS. The workshop proved extremely useful in bringing the mission closer to the Chinese scientific community and consolidating important soil-sampling activities in the Takla Makan desert.
The Berlin International Airshow's Space Pavilion hosted a contract signing for ESA's EarthCARE satellite, highlighting the benefits stemming from the Agency's Earth observation programme. Vodcast Play now | Download
ESA PR 28-2008. The European Space Agency and Astrium GmbH have today signed a contract worth €263 million to provide the EarthCARE satellite, the sixth Earth Explorer mission of ESA’s Living Planet Programme. As prime contractor, Astrium GmbH is responsible for the satellite’s design, development and integration.
Following a formidable 106-day trek across the Arctic, which ended with the two Arctic Arc expedition members relying on Envisat images to guide them safely through disintegrating sea-ice, intrepid polar explorer Alain Hubert recently visited ESA to handover a unique set of snow-depth measurements.
An international group of scientists has swapped their comfortable offices for one of the most inhospitable environments on the planet to carry out a challenging field campaign that is seen as key to ensuring the data delivered by ESA's ice mission CryoSat will be as accurate as possible.
Australian physicist Leanne Guy is taking time off work at the Geneva Observatory to venture onto the Arctic sea-ice for a three-week expedition to the North Pole. Throughout this already physically demanding trek, Leanne has volunteered to take snow-depth measurements in support of ESA's ice mission CryoSat.
As part of the final stage of its testing programme, the last of the three arms that make up the SMOS instrument has been successfully deployed – a tricky operation since the three-metre long arms are not designed to open under the influence of gravity.
Shell Canada has incorporated Earth Observation data into its Sustainable Development Report, demonstrating the potential of satellites to provide a global and cost-effective way to measure objectively the sustainability of business activities.
The amount of information being generated about our planet is increasing at an exponential rate, but it must be easily accessible in order to apply it to the global needs relating to the state of the Earth.
To help address climate change, 2008 will see the launch of Europe’s SMOS satellite. SMOS, which stands for soil moisture and ocean salinity, is designed to map these elements with unprecedented accuracy. Vodcast Play now | Download
Just two years after the decision to rebuild CryoSat, Thales Alenia Space have already rebuilt and tested the new primary instrument SIRAL-2 and shipped it from their premises in France to Astrium in Germany for eventual integration onto the CryoSat-2 satellite.
Signs of a warming climate are already being felt in the icy reaches of the Arctic. The consequences of diminishing sea-ice are far-reaching - affecting the peoples and wildlife reliant on this fragile ecosystem, global climate and even international shipping routes. EuroNews looks at how ESA satellites are an invaluable aid to monitoring this changing environment.
Ocean surface currents have long been the focus of research due to the role they play in weather, climate and transportation of pollutants, yet essential aspects of these currents remain unknown.
In preparation for launch next year, SMOS is undergoing its final vibration test at Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, France. "Vibration tests again?", followers of SMOS might ask. True, but this time the payload and platform are being put through their paces together as the integrated satellite.
ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, Dr Volker Liebig, and EUMETSAT Director General, Dr Lars Prahm, have exchanged letters to document the understanding achieved between the two organisations on cooperation and coordination regarding the approval process of the respective Meteosat Third Generation programmes.
Some 30 water authorities from more than 15 African countries gathered in Nairobi, Kenya, from 26 to 30 November, to attend an advanced ESA TIGER training course on utilising Earth Observation technology to overcome water-related problems.
Thirty years ago tomorrow, Europe's first geostationary weather satellite - Meteosat-1 - was launched by the then-young European Space Agency.
Around 90 scientists from all over the world recently met at ESA's facilities in Frascati, Italy to discuss the preparations being made to receive data from ESA's water mission SMOS.
Understanding more about the Earth's magnetic field has just come one step closer now that the preliminary design and definition phase of ESA's Swarm mission is complete. In accordance with this important milestone, the project celebrates moving off the 'drawing board' and prepares for the construction of the Swarm satellite constellation.
ESA and EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, agreed today that ESA will provide essential launch control services for the last two Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellites, MSG-3 and MSG-4.
Moisture in soil and salt in the oceans play an important role in the Earth's water cycle - a crucial component of our weather and climate. This week, Euronews looks at SMOS, ESA's water mission that will provide a uniform dataset to better understand this fundamental system.
ESA is pleased to announce the release of an Announcement of Opportunity (AO), which aims exclusively at calibration and validation activities in support of the ADM-Aeolus mission.
Scientists from Europe and the US met in the Alps this summer to discuss progress on campaign activities in support of the candidate CoReH2O mission. Currently under assessment, this mission aims to improve our understanding of the role that snow and ice play in water and energy cycles.
The Swarm Mission Advisory Group is now closed for membership application.
Initial results from an extensive ESA field campaign, which is being carried out in support of the development of two Earth-observation missions prove encouraging and potentially pave the way for future monitoring of the Earth's surface.
The ADM-Aeolus (Atmospheric Dynamics Mission) project has just passed another milestone with the confirmation that the laser diode stacks, which are the core components of the mission's instrument, have successfully passed their long-lifetime test - demonstrating that they will endure the three years of operation in space.
As the Earth Explorer Swarm mission progresses into Phase C/D of its development, ESA is inviting scientists who wish to apply for membership of the Swarm Mission Advisory Group (MAG) covering Phase C/D and E1 to do so via the Mission Advisory Group Application website.
With the design consolidation phase soon to start for ESA's EarthCARE mission, scientists and engineers from around the world recently met to discuss preparations for a mission that is being implemented with the cooperation of Japanese partners to address the need for a better understanding of how the interactions between clouds, aerosols and solar radiation regulate climate.
EUMETSAT has just reported that Europe entered a new era of meteorology and climatology when MetOp-A, Europe’s first polar-orbiting meteorological satellite, was on 15 May 2007 officially declared operational after only six months of commissioning.
The Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2) on board MetOp-A launched in October 2006 and currently undergoing commissioning has delivered the first geophysical products for monitoring the Earth's ozone layer, and European and global air quality.
Applications for the EarthCARE Mission Advisory Group closed on 28 February 2007.
Eumetsat reports that the AMSU-A, GRAS instruments and the Search and Rescue package carried on MetOp-A have been functionally checked and declared ready for routine operation.
As the Earth Explorer EarthCARE mission progresses into Phase B of its development, ESA is inviting scientists who wish to apply for membership of the EarthCARE Mission Advisory Group (MAG), to do so via the Mission Advisory Group Application website.
Following a series of functional and performance tests, the Microwave Humidity Sounder carried on MetOp-A has been declared ready for routine operation.
EUMETSAT reports that the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) carried on MetOp-A was successfully put into nominal operation mode on 27 November 2006 over the ground station on Svalbard, Norway.
After the nominal two-week out-gassing period, the High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS/4) and the channels 3B, 4, and 5 of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR/3) carried on MetOp-A, were switched-on on 21 November at 13:00 UTC.
Weather forecasting and climate monitoring are set to improve as the first results from the Global Navigation Satellite System Receiver for Atmospheric Sounding (GRAS) instrument carried on MetOp-A show that the instrument is working perfectly.
Today, EUMETSAT reports that the Space Environment Monitor (SEM-2) instrument carried on MetOp-A has been successfully switched on. Initial analysis shows that all telemetries are within the expected limits and the instrument is functioning nominally.
Following the first international workshop dedicated to the Earth Explorer Swarm mission, the proceedings are now available on CD by request. The CD holds the 93 presentations that were given at the workshop, photos and the list of participants.
Almost 100 scientists and engineers from all over the world gathered at ESA-ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands to take part in a workshop dedicated to the Atmospheric Dynamics Mission ADM-Aeolus, one of the upcoming ESA Earth Explorer missions.
The latest special issue of the Earth Planets and Space publication features a collection of 12 papers covering many aspects of ESA's magnetic mission Swarm. The articles are from many disciplines and summarises the results of a variety of research efforts that have recently been conducted as part preparing for the Swarm mission.
Due for launch in less than four years, the development of ESA's magnetic field mission Swarm is well underway; thus, it is now time to bring together scientists and students who work in the field of geomagnetism to discuss how this mission will be of benefit.
The ADM-Aeolus mission has just passed another milestone with the success of the first ALADIN Airborne Demonstrator (A2D) test flights. Essentially, the aim was to ensure that the A2D was compatible with the aircraft; however, it was also revealed that the A2D was receiving atmospheric backscatter data, which went beyond what was expected from these first flights.
A major milestone has just been reached in the ADM-Aeolus project as the transmitter-laser prototype emits its first light pulses in ultra-violet. The laser forms the heart of Aeolus's innovative ALADIN payload and since it is a completely new instrument, these first light pulses signify a technological breakthrough.
A significant milestone in ESA's wind mission ADM-Aeolus has just been reached with the successful completion of a series of crucial mechanical tests. These tests, which took place at ESA-ESTEC in the Netherlands, have demonstrated clearly that the satellite structure and the ALADIN payload will be able to withstand the harsh conditions of launch.
Mission controllers cross their fingers whenever the Sun is stormy and their spacecraft have to fly over the South Atlantic. There, even satellites in low orbits suffer many hits by atomic bullets from the Sun. Troublesome faults occur in electronic systems and astronauts see flashes in their eyes. The Earth’s magnetic field, which shields our planet against charged atomic particles coming from outer space, is curiously weak in that region.