ESA Observing the Earth

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.

SMOS on speed

While ESA’s water mission was built to advance our understanding of Earth, it continues to show how well it’s suited to delivering information for numerous applications that improve everyday life. Taking this a step further, soil moisture data products are now available within three hours of measurement, which is essential for many applications.

Vatnajökull

Earth from Space

The way ahead

Earth from Space

Eye of the storm

What are TEPs?

Shanghai

Business in the ever-changing digital world

In an era of profound digital transformation, business leaders and IT experts are convening at ESA’s mission control in Darmstadt, Germany, today for the first SAP Digital Leaders’ Summit.

Earth from Space

Sustainable cities

Magnetic oceans and electric Earth

Oceans might not be thought of as magnetic, but they make a tiny contribution to our planet’s protective magnetic shield. Remarkably, ESA’s Swarm satellites have not only measured this extremely faint field, but have also led to new discoveries about the electrical nature of inner Earth.

Earth from Space

Ouarkziz crater

Satellites help understand what fuels the twilight zone

The deep, dark twilight zone a kilometre down in the ocean is home to most of the world’s fish, but how they get enough food has largely been a mystery. Now, thanks to satellites and floating sensors, scientists have worked out how much energy is being pumped to the depths.

Alakol Lake

Earth from Space

Blanketed in smoke

Fine wine app wins top prize at App Camp

An app that uses satellite data to evaluate the quality of wine took home the top prize at this year’s Space App Camp at ESA’s centre in Frascati, Italy.

Fine wine app wins top prize at App Camp

An app that uses satellite data to evaluate the quality of wine took home the top prize at this year’s Space App Camp at ESA’s centre in Frascati, Italy.

App Camp wrap-up

Radar mission live

Poyang Lake

Earth from Space

Cool scene for MetOp-C

Revisit Open Science

Madeira scarred

Estonia signs up to Sentinel agreement

ESA and Enterprise Estonia have signed an arrangement that gives one of ESA’s newest Member States access to data from the Copernicus Sentinel satellites.

Estonia signs up to Sentinel agreement

ESA and Enterprise Estonia have signed an arrangement that gives one of ESA’s newest Member States access to data from the Copernicus Sentinel satellites.

Open Science

Open Science

Open Science

Open Science

Barents bloom

Earth from Space

Vega to launch ESA’s wind mission

Today, ESA and Arianespace signed a contract to secure the launch of the Aeolus satellite. With this milestone, a better understanding of Earth’s winds is another step closer.

Vega to launch ESA’s wind mission

Today, ESA and Arianespace signed a contract to secure the launch of the Aeolus satellite. With this milestone, a better understanding of Earth’s winds is another step closer.

Arctic and Space

Upsala Glacier

Earth from Space

Intro to EO: sign up today

Copernicus Sentinel-1A satellite hit by space particle

ESA engineers have discovered that a solar panel on the Copernicus Sentinel-1A satellite was hit by a millimetre-size particle in orbit on 23 August. Thanks to onboard cameras, ground controllers were able to identify the affected area. So far, there has been no effect on the satellite’s routine operations.

Copernicus Sentinel-1A satellite hit by space particle

ESA engineers have discovered that a solar panel on the Copernicus Sentinel-1A satellite was hit by a millimetre-size particle in orbit on 23 August. Thanks to onboard cameras, ground controllers were able to identify the affected area. So far, there has been no effect on the satellite’s routine operations.

Sentinel-1 provides new insight into Italy’s earthquake

On 24 August, an earthquake struck central Italy, claiming at least 290 lives and causing widespread damage. Satellite images are being used to help emergency aid organisations, while scientists have begun to analyse ground movement.

Sentinel-1 provides new insight into Italy’s earthquake

On 24 August, an earthquake struck central Italy, claiming at least 290 lives and causing widespread damage. Satellite images are being used to help emergency aid organisations, while scientists have begun to analyse ground movement.

First satellite-based wildlife monitoring tool for airports

Wildlife habitats close to airports pose a serious risk to safety at takeoff and landing. Thanks to ESA, a new service lets airports use satellites to identify and manage these areas.

First satellite-based wildlife monitoring tool for airports

Wildlife habitats close to airports pose a serious risk to safety at takeoff and landing. Thanks to ESA, a new service lets airports use satellites to identify and manage these areas.

Land shifts in Italy

Bridging the Bosphorus

FLEX takes on mutants

Because a plant isn’t green doesn’t mean it can’t photosynthesise as well as its more usual counterpart, but when measured by satellites, these non-green varieties skew results on plant health. FLEX is different. Experiments using ‘mutants’ show that colour won’t be an obstacle in this new mission’s task of mapping plant health from space.

Touch on climate

Summer school shines

Young scientists from all over the world have gathered for their two-week summer school course at ESA’s ESRIN centre for Earth observation in Frascati, Italy.

Summer school shines

Young Earth scientists from all over the world have gathered for their two-week summer school course at ESA’s ESRIN centre for Earth observation in Frascati, Italy.

Aladin wind probe ready for Aeolus

It has been years in the making, but one of the trickiest pieces of space technology ever developed is finally ready to join its satellite for launch by the end of next year. With this milestone, we are another step closer to a better understanding of Earth’s winds.

Iranian painting

Earth from Space

SMOS tracks Pacific fresh water pools

ESA’s SMOS satellite has found a rise in fresh water in the tropical Pacific Ocean during last year’s El Niño event.

Sand and sea

Sand and sea

CryoSat sets new standard for measuring sea levels

Trying to measure sea levels around rugged coastlines is not always an easy task. ESA’s CryoSat satellite is making a difference with its radar altimeter.

Tonga

Earth from Space

Chilly summer for Sentinel-2B

While most of us may be looking forward to spending some time in the sunshine this summer, the Sentinel-2B satellite is being subjected to the extreme cold of space to make sure it is fit for life in orbit.

Sundarbans web

Earth from Space

Europe’s workhorse Sentinel ready for action

Getting the bigger picture on the health of our planet drew another step closer today as Europe’s Sentinel-3A satellite was handed over to Eumetsat for operations.

CryoSat reveals recent Greenland ice loss

In the most detailed picture to date, information from ESA’s CryoSat satellite reveals how melting ice in Greenland has recently contributed twice as much to sea-level rise as the prior two decades.

ESA’s Dragon cooperation with China extended to 2020

ESA and China have launched the fourth phase of the collaborative Dragon programme in Wuhan City, on the Yangtze River, which recently experienced major floods witnessed by Europe’s Sentinel-1 satellite.

Malaspina Glacier

Earth from Space

A study in scarlet

Looking out for coral bleaching

The EOMAP aquatic remote sensing company, together with partners at the Remote Sensing Research Centre of Queensland University and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, are developing new methods to monitor and detect coral bleaching events using Europe’s Sentinel-2A satellite. 

Mount St Helens

Earth from Space

Sentinels for Regions

Mediterranean wonders

Earth from Space

Floating Piers

Sentinel space testing

Sentinel space testing

Sentinel-1 satellites combine radar vision

The twin Sentinel-1 satellites have – for the first time – combined to show their capability for revealing even small deformations in Earth’s surface.

Southern Tibetan Plateau

Earth from Space

New ESA Director of Earth Observation

At a restricted meeting of the ESA Council held in Paris today Mr Josef Aschbacher was appointed as ESA Director of Earth Observation.

New ESA Director of Earth Observation

At a restricted meeting of the ESA Council held in Paris today Mr Josef Aschbacher was appointed as ESA Director of Earth Observation.

Sentinel-1B timelapse

Calling App developers

United Kingdom

Earth from Space

Estonia’s first contract with ESA focuses on ocean health

Estonia has been awarded its first contract since becoming an ESA Member State in 2015. Over the next three years, scientists from Estonia’s Tartu Observatory will head an international team to ensure that Sentinel-3’s measurements of ocean colour are of the highest quality possible.

Monitoring pipelines from space

Dutch company Orbital Eye has developed a service that uses satellites to monitor gas and oil pipelines. A major African pipeline operator has already signed up for the service.

Southern Maine

Earth from Space

First EDRS laser image

Sentinels in the fields

The unprecedented frequency of Sentinel observations capture rapid changes in agricultural production from national to field scale, serving as a major support for environmental monitoring and agricultural subsidy control.

Mapping that sinking feeling

For a low-lying, densely populated country like the Netherlands, monitoring subsidence is critical. Until recently, tiny displacements in the ground beneath our feet couldn’t be mapped nationally but, thanks to the Sentinel-1 mission, this is now possible.

Fort McMurray fires

Chile's salt flat

Sentinel-1 helping Cyclone Roanu relief

Cyclone Roanu has claimed over 100 lives in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and has left tens of thousands in need of aid. Officials are looking to the sky for information on flooded areas to analyse the cyclone’s aftermath and support emergency response activities.