ESA has developed a comprehensive suite of Earth system data records as part of the Fundamental Data Records for Altimetry (FDR4ALT) project.

Fundamental Data Records (FDRs) are long-term records containing uncertainty-quantified, calibrated and geo-located multi-instrument/multi-platform satellite sensor data.

The FDR4ALT products consist of data acquired by the altimeter and radiometer instruments onboard ESA's legacy Heritage Space ERS-1, ERS-2, and Envisat missions, between 1991 and 2012. The products are summarised in this new infographic:

The new collections are intended to replace the existing individual mission datasets, offering a new consolidated approach to a long-term dataset that supports many climate-related applications, including inland waters, land and sea ice, ocean and coastal topography, ocean waves, and atmospheric studies. The new products also benefit from improvements to the calibration and instrument characterisation and utilise more advanced algorithms to improve data quality.

Go to the FDR4ALT data collection pages to learn more about the products and how to access the data.