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Browse through success stories, infographics, documents, and more. Learn about ESA’s Earth Observation community and satellite data applications. For EO Quality Control Reports visit Quality Reports Advanced Search
Meet Nils Olsen, head of the Swarm DISC, and winner of prestigious EGU award
3 June 2025
A highly distinguished career was rewarded at EGU 2025, when Nils Olsen, head of the Swarm DISC and Professor and Head of Geomagnetism and Geospace at DTU Space, received the Petrus Peregrinus medal.
5 things we learned in EarthCARE’s impressive first year
29 May 2025
Clouds and aerosols, and their contribution to Earth's energy balance, are already less mysterious after the Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer's first year in orbit.
Maximising the value of Heritage data through ESA's Fundamental Data Records (FDR)
20 May 2025
ESA’s Fundamental Data Records (FDR) framework is currently the main instrument to promote innovative efforts to enhance datasets from selected Heritage missions.
Spotlight on Third Party Mission provider: Spire
29 Apr 2025
Spire Global is a data and analytics company that collects data from space to help solve problems on Earth.
Commercial satellite data in environmental protection
17 Apr 2025
Commercial Earth observing satellites, whose data are disseminated via ESA’s Third Party Missions (TPMs) programme, provide important information that help us closely monitor our planet. Missions such as GEOSAT provide near real-time and historical data for forest assessment, while other missions such as Pléiades Neo can detect illegal waste management sites.
Aeolus’ legacy: lessons that will shape future missions
10 Apr 2025
Aeolus was decommissioned in 2023, but researchers at ESA are still using its data. The latest report from the Aeolus Data, Science, and Innovation Cluster (DISC) shows that this crucial wind mission has left valuable lessons that can benefit other Earth Explorers.
CryoSat at 15: ESA’s ice mission delivers big picture of Arctic sea ice
7 Apr 2025
Arctic sea ice plays a critical role in regulating Earth’s climate and it has changed drastically in recent decades. The European Space Agency’s CryoSat mission has now been observing it for 15 years, giving us a unique and unparalleled look at sea ice growth and melt since 2010.
Major thunderstorms in Spain as seen by EarthCARE’s Broadband Radiometer
31 Mar 2025
Spain and Portugal have witnessed particularly high rainfall throughout late winter and early Spring, and the European Space Agency’s Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) has captured some of the weather systems causing it.
2025 set to be the Year of Glaciers Preservation
11 Mar 2025
Glaciers and ice sheets hold around 70 percent of the world's freshwater for 2 billion people, and their rapid loss presents an urgent environmental and humanitarian crisis.
Remote Sensing specialist addresses a sustainable farmer initiative using Vision-1 data
6 Mar 2025
Researcher Basnewende Brice Fulgence Zoungrana, of the Oklahoma State University, had first pursued a Bachelor’s Degree in Macroeconomics at the University Saint Thomas D’Aquin, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Tech start-up uses satellite data to boost commercial success
4 Mar 2025
A Croatian digital services firm has used data from an ESA Third Party Mission (TPM) to transform its vision of a next-generation green space management tool into commercial reality.
Sea ice is fading. But how much?
3 Mar 2025
In the Arctic, multi-year ice was once the norm, forming a thick crust over much of the Arctic Ocean throughout winter and persisting through the warmer summer months. Now that is no longer the case.
EarthCARE’s incredible images of winter in the stratosphere
20 Feb 2025
Rare, mysterious and beautiful polar stratospheric clouds have dazzled sky-gazers with their rainbow-coloured hues this winter. Thanks to EarthCARE’s newly released Level 1 data, we can observe them in great detail from space.
Satellites help unveil the invasion of an alien plant species
13 Feb 2025
Scientists have used satellite observations and aerial drone imagery to map the spread of an aggressive non-native weed across coastal dune landscapes, providing essential information that could help reduce the impact of this damaging invasive species on local ecosystems.
Commercial satellite data in humanitarian aid
11 Feb 2025
Commercial satellites included in ESA's Third Party Missions (TPM) programme deliver data that support critical applications in humanitarian aid efforts.
Which geomagnetic storm was the biggest? Swarm compares 10 May and 10 October 2024
6 Feb 2025
Some of the biggest geomagnetic storms in decades lit up Earth’s atmosphere throughout 2024 with dazzling auroras. But which was biggest? Eelco Doornbos of KNMI has used different aspects of Swarm data, his Space Weather Timeline Viewer, and reports of visible aurora from the ground, to investigate.
CryoSat and ICESat-2 in harmony over sea ice
3 Feb 2025
On 6 February 2025, the observations of the European Space Agency’s CryoSat and NASA’s ICESat-2 satellites will align almost perfectly with each other, providing the best opportunity yet to measure sea ice from space.
Quick guide to Project Proposal submission
29 Jan 2025
This infographic provides a quick guide to the Project Proposal submission process.
Quick guide to Announcement of Opportunity submission
29 Jan 2025
Follow this quick guide to learn how to access data or participate in activities offered through ESA's Announcement of Opportunity mechanism.
Quick guide to Fast Registration submission
29 Jan 2025
Follow this quick guide to learn how to obtain access to datasets offered through ESA's Fast Registration mechanism.