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  • News - Infographics

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    Showcasing success stories from ESA's Heritage Missions

    Find out how ESA's Heritage Space Programme data continue to help, even decades after they finished operations, in our latest infographic.

  • Document - Newsletter

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    Earth Online Newsletter - 08 March 2024

    This issue of the Earth Online Newsletter covers a selection of the latest news and events from ESA.

  • News - Data Release news

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    FDR4ALT - ESA unveils new cutting-edge ERS/Envisat Altimeter and Microwave Radiometer Datasets

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

  • Data - EO Sign In Authentication (Open)

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    Land Ice Thematic Data Product [ALT_TDP_LI]

    This is the Land Ice Thematic Data Product (TDP) V1 resulting from the ESA FDR4ALT project and containing estimates of ice sheet surface elevation and associated uncertainties. The collection covers data for three different missions: ERS-1, ERS-2 and Envisat, and based on Level 1 data coming from previous reprocessing (ERS REAPER and the Envisat V3.0) but taking into account the improvements made at Level 0/Level 1 in the frame of FDR4ALT (ALT FDR). The Land Ice TDP focuses specifically on the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica, providing these data in different files. For many aspects, the Land Ice Level 2 and Level 2+ processing is very innovative: Improved relocation approach correcting for topographic effects within the beam footprint to identify the Point of Closest Approach Homogeneous timeseries of surface elevation measurements at regular along-track reference nodes. The FDR4ALT products are available in NetCDF format. Free standard tools for reading NetCDF data can be used. Information for expert altimetry users is also available in a dedicated NetCDF group within the products. Please consult the FDR4ALT Product User Guide before using the data. The FDR4ALT datasets represent the new reference data for the ERS/Envisat altimetry missions, superseding any previous mission data. Users are strongly encouraged to make use of these datasets for optimal results.

  • Data - EO Sign In Authentication (Open)

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    Sea Ice Thematic Data Product [ALT_TDP_SI]

    This is the Sea Ice Thematic Data Product (TDP) V1 resulting from the ESA FDR4ALT project and containing the sea ice related geophysical parameters, along with associated uncertainties: snow depth, radar and sea-ice freeboard, sea ice thickness and concentration. The collection covers data for the ERS-1, ERS-2 and Envisat missions, and bases on Level 1 data coming from previous reprocessing (ERS REAPER and the Envisat V3.0) but taking into account the improvements made at Level 0/Level 1 in the frame of FDR4ALT (ALT FDR). The Sea Ice TDP provides data from the northern or southern hemisphere in two files corresponding to the Arctic and Antarctic regions respectively for the winter periods only, i.e., October to June for the Arctic, and May to November for the Antarctic. For many aspects, the Sea Ice TDP is very innovative: First time series of sea-ice thickness estimates for ERS Homogeneous calibration, allowing the first Arctic radar freeboard time series from ERS-1 (1991) to CryoSat-2 (2021) Uncertainties estimated along-track with a bottom-up approach based on dominant sources ERS pulse blurring error corrected using literature procedure [Peacock, 2004] The FDR4ALT products are available in NetCDF format. Free standard tools for reading NetCDF data can be used. Information for expert altimetry users is also available in a dedicated NetCDF group within the products. Please consult the FDR4ALT Product User Guide before using the data. The FDR4ALT datasets represent the new reference data for the ERS/Envisat altimetry missions, superseding any previous mission data. Users are strongly encouraged to make use of these datasets for optimal results.

  • News - Data Release news

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    New reanalysis dataset impacts SMOS Level 3 and 4 sea ice thickness

    On 24 January 2024 the JRA55 reanalysis dataset was terminated and updated with the Japanese Reanalysis for Three Quarters of a Century.

  • News - Success Stories

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    Trailblazing ERS-2 mission enables climate change applications

    As ESA’s ERS-2 satellite approaches Earth’s atmosphere for reentry, it’s time to reflect on the mission’s great achievements in powering climate-related applications.

  • News - Thematic area articles

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    Space data support Earth’s ecosystems

    ESA’s Earth observation (EO) missions are making a critical contribution to monitoring transformations in our planet’s ecosystems, helping track changes in the vegetation, soil, and ocean that affect these systems.

  • News - Events and Proceedings

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    Highlighting the value of SMOS data in space weather applications

    Data from ESA’s SMOS mission are driving many space weather applications, ranging from air navigation, characterisation of solar flares, space weather modelling and ionospheric electron content mapping.

  • Document - Newsletter

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    Earth Online Newsletter 01 December 2023

    This issue of the Earth Online Newsletter covers a selection of the latest news and events from ESA.

  • News - General News

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    SMOS Tools updates

    Updates for two SMOS tools have been released, offering new features and improvements.

  • News - Spotlight on EO community

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    An overview of the SMOS mission

    In this video, Klaus Scipal - Biomass and SMOS Mission Manager - talks about ESA's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission.

  • News - Success Stories

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    SMOS data reveal ecosystems' resistance to drought

    Climate change is rapidly altering the world’s ecosystems, causing extreme weather conditions, such as droughts, to become increasingly frequent. Understanding the factors that contribute to ecosystem resilience to extreme events is vital to develop more effective strategies for climate adaptation and mitigation.

  • News - Infographics

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    Key facts about SMOS Level-1 and Level-2 science data

    Learn about data products from the SMOS mission in our latest infographic.

  • News - Events and Proceedings

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    Scientists to showcase value of Earth observation data at EGU

    Remote sensing scientists are getting ready to present innovative and exciting applications of satellite data at the European Geosciences Union general assembly which will take place from 24 to 28 April in Vienna, Austria.

  • News - General News

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    Overachieving SMOS mission primed for continued success

    ESA’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission (SMOS) was the second Earth Explorer launched in 2009. Over 13 years on, having already vastly exceeded its predicted lifetime and initial objectives, the mission has been further extended until at least the end of 2025.

  • News - Spotlight on EO community

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    Introducing the Aeolus and CryoSat missions

    In this video, Tommaso Parrinello - Mission Manager of Aeolus and CryoSat - describes what is involved in managing the missions and the unique challenges offered by such innovative satellites.

  • News - General News

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    ESA's excellent Earth Explorer missions extended to 2025

    Since 2009, ESA’s Earth Explorer missions have pioneered breakthrough technologies and transformed our understanding of Earth’s system, from its core to the outer stretches of the atmosphere.

  • News - Spotlight on EO community

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    Introducing Tommaso Parrinello

    In this short introduction, ESA's Aeolus and CryoSat Mission Manager, Tommaso Parrinello, describes his role in these two diverse missions.

  • News - Thematic area articles

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    Monitoring water on Earth's surface

    ESA's Earth observation satellites are playing a leading role in furthering our understanding of how Earth's terrestrial hydrosphere is being influenced by humankind.