The European Space Agency (ESA) organises a series of summer schools on Monitoring of the Earth System, which promote the exploitation of Earth observation (EO) data across disciplines, with a specific focus on their assimilation into Earth System models.

The two-week course, held in ESA-ESRIN (near Rome, Italy) during August (typically every two years), aims to provide students with an integrated end-to-end perspective going from measurement techniques to end-user applications. Courses include lectures covering issues related to Remote Sensing, Earth System Modelling and Data Assimilation as well as hands-on computing exercises on the processing of EO data. Keynote lectures on global change issues are also given to discuss the current state of the science of global change and its relationship to society in order to help students appreciate how their specific field fits into a broader scientific and political context. For more information, please see the programme.

The event is open to Early Career Scientists (i.e. Ph.D. students, young post-doctoral scientists) who are specialised in a variety of Earth Science disciplines and wish to expand and improve their knowledge and skills.

The fourth EO Summer School took place between 4 - 14 August 2008.

Programme

Peter Lemke (AWI)

• Remote sensing of sea ice
• Changes in the Arctic
• Contribution to the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (WG I)

Tony McNally (ECMWF)

• Satellite Data Assimilation for NWP (I)
• Satellite Data Assimilation for NWP (II)
• New Satellite Technologies, Applications and Reanalysis

Alan O'Neill (DARC)

• Overview of DA techniques theory and algorithms
• DA applications (Earth Systems)

Shaun Quegan (CTCD)

• The terrestrial carbon cycle: processes and observations
• Improving knowledge of the carbon cycle through model-data fusion
• Carbon cycle missions: present capabilities and future promises

Bernard Pinty (JRC)

• Basic concepts: from EO measurements to surface albedo estimates (I)
• Basic concepts: from EO measurements to surface albedo estimates (II)
• Monitoring land surfaces: applications of inverse packages of BRF and albedo models

Thomas Kaminski (FASTOPT)

• Introduction to inverse modelling
• Intro tangent and adjoint code construction
• Demo: BRF inverse package and Carbon Cycle Data Assimilation System

Samantha Lavender (UoP/ARGANS)

• An introduction to marine optics and ocean colour products/algorithms
• Understanding biological variability in the open ocean (GLOBCOLOUR project)
• The coastal challenge

Kevin Trenberth (NCAR)

• Flow of Energy in the Earth climate system
• Global Water cycle and its change
• Global Climate Information System to support adaptation to regional climate change

Dave Carlston (International Polar Year)

• IPY scientific activities
• IPY educational activities

Ana Maiques (Starlab)

• EO applications: opportunities & challenges
• Linking Science & Applications

Stefano Migliorini (DARC)

• Ensemble methods for data assimilation

Henri Laur (ESA)

• The Earth Observation Programme at ESA

Computing Practicals

Data Assimilation Practicals

Stefano Migliorini (DARC)
Marek Wlasek (UK Met Office)
Joanne Walker (Oxford University)

• Effect of statistical analysis parameters
• Sequential data assimilation
• Four-dimensional variational assimilation
• Data assimilation projects

Remote Sensing Tutorial (Bilko)

Val Byfield (NOC)
Steffen Dransfeld, Giuseppe Ottavianelli and Marco Lavalle (ESA)

• Synergistic use of data from SAR, optical and other satellite sensors in oil spill monitoring
• Synthetic Aperture Radar: Land applications tutorial
• Eddies in the Western Indian Ocean: effects of the Somali Current and Indian Ocean Monsoon
• From level 1 to level 3 data sets: Confidence flags, co-registration, gridding and creation of level 3 data products.
• Sea surface temperature from AATSR