earth online
  • All Categories (22)
  • Data (7)
  • News (13)
  • Missions (1)
  • Documents (1)
  • News - Success Stories

    prompt photo

    Studying forest biomass from space

    Forestry expert Maurizio Santoro, senior researcher at Gamma Remote Sensing and one of the leaders of ESA projects related to the Climate Change Initiative (CCI), explains how the use of various data.

  • News - Events and Proceedings

    prompt photo

    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 - Success Stories

    prompt photo

    Rome supersite helps validate atmospheric space data

    In the sprawling, urban area of Rome, where atmospheric composition is impacted by complex coastal weather and pollution, ESA supports a powerful observatory spread across several locations.

  • Mission - Heritage Missions

    prompt photo

    NOAA POES

    NOAA's AVHRR sensor is carried on the POES mission, a constellation of polar orbiting weather satellites.

  • News - Data Release news

    prompt photo

    New CryoTEMPO-EOLIS baseline 2 point and gridded products

    New CryoTEMPO EOLIS baseline 2 point and gridded products are now available monthly as of January 2023.

  • News - Data Release news

    prompt photo

    New CryoSat Ice Baseline-E Reprocessed Data – Available now!

    The CryoSat Ice Baseline-E Reprocessing campaign is now complete.

  • News - Success Stories

    prompt photo

    Magnetic magic: 10 reasons to be excited about Swarm

    In November 2023, Swarm celebrated an impressive ten years in orbit. In that time, ESA’s magnetic mission has honed in on all sorts of mysteries - from tussling magnetic blobs to animal migration.

  • News - Success Stories

    prompt photo

    Gravity Field Models from Swarm data

    In addition to its geomagnetic objectives, GPS receivers onboard Swarm can and have already been exploited to measure temporal variations in Earth's global gravity field.

  • News - Success Stories

    prompt photo

    Forty years of heritage data highlight warming European lakes

    In the last decade, climate change has taken centre stage in both the public and scientific arenas, as increasingly extreme weather and human impact on the environment have become more apparent.

  • News - General News

    prompt photo

    ESA's improved Earth system data records: what is in store for the future?

    Fundamental Data Records (FDRs) are instrumental in advancing our understanding of Earth systems and for addressing societal challenges effectively. These long-term records contain uncertainty-quantified, calibrated and geo-located multi-instrument/multi-platform satellite sensor data spanning several decades to support climate-related applications.

  • News - Events and Proceedings

    prompt photo

    ESA invites scientists to submit abstracts for EGU 2023

    ESA is calling for researchers to submit abstracts for sessions at the next General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU 2023).

  • Data - Fast Registration with approval (Restrained)

    prompt photo

    ERS-1/2 ATSR Gridded Surface Temperature [AT1/AT2_NR__2P]

    The Gridded Surface Temperature (GST) Product is the Level 2 full resolution geophysical product. The product contains gridded sea-surface temperature images using both nadir and dual view retrieval algorithms. The product includes pixel latitude/longitude positions, X/Y offset and the results of the cloud-clearing/land-flagging. It contains a single measurement data set the content of which is switchable, that is to say, the content of each pixel field will depend on the surface type. Specifically, the contents of the data fields will depend on the setting of the forward and nadir cloud flags and the land flag. The 3rd reprocessing of ATSR data was performed in 2013; the processing updates that have been put in place and the scientific improvements are outlined in full in the User Summary Note for the Third ERS ATSR Reprocessing.

  • Data - Fast Registration with approval (Restrained)

    prompt photo

    ERS-1/2 ATSR Gridded Brightness Temperature/Reflectance [AT1/AT2_TOA_1P]

    The Gridded Brightness Temperature/Reflectance (GBTR) product contains top of atmosphere (TOA) brightness temperature (BT) values for the infra-red channels and reflectance values for the visible channels. Values for each channel and for the nadir and forward views occupy separate measurement data sets. Additional MDS contain cloud and land/sea flags and confidence flags for each image pixel. The 3rd reprocessing of ATSR data was performed in 2013; the processing updates that have been put in place and the scientific improvements are outlined in full in the User Summary Note for the Third ERS ATSR Reprocessing.

  • Data - Fast Registration with approval (Restrained)

    prompt photo

    ERS-1/2 ATSR Averaged Surface Temperature [AT1/AT2_AR__2P]

    The Averaged Surface Temperature Product (AST) contains averaged geophysical data at two different resolutions, and with respect to two different averaging schemes: measurement data sets at resolutions of 0.5 by 0.5 degrees and 10 by 10 arcmin with respect to a latitude/longitude grid; other data sets contain data averaged over equal area cells of 50 by 50 km and 17 by 17 km aligned with the satellite ground track. Both top-of-atmosphere and surface data sets are provided. The surface temperature data sets provide, for sea cells, nadir and dual view sea surface temperatures, and for land cells, land surface temperature (currently 11 micron BT) and NDVI. Cloud data is also included. No ADS are included in the AST product; auxiliary data is contained within the MDS. The data sets of the AST product are arranged by surface type and resolution. The 3rd reprocessing of ATSR data was performed in 2013; the processing updates that have been put in place and the scientific improvements are outlined in full in the User Summary Note for the Third ERS ATSR Reprocessing.

  • News - Events and Proceedings

    prompt photo

    EO for Polar Science Workshop

    The EO for Polar Science Workshop will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 17 to 19 June 2020.

  • Data - EO Sign In Authentication (Open)

    prompt photo

    Envisat MERIS Full Resolution - Level 2 [MER_FRS_2P/ME_2_FRG]

    MERIS FR Level 2 is a Full-Resolution Geophysical product for Ocean, Land and Atmosphere. Each MERIS Level 2 geophysical product is derived from a MERIS Level 1 product and auxiliary parameter files specific to the MERIS Level 2 processing. The MERIS FR Level 2 product has Sentinel 3-like format starting from the 4th reprocessing data released to users in July 2020. The data package is composed of NetCDF 4 files containing instrumental and scientific measurements, and a Manifest file which contains metadata information related to the description of the product. A Level 2 product is composed of 64 measurement files containing: 13 files containing Water-leaving reflectance, 13 files containing Land surface reflectance and 13 files containing the TOA reflectance (for all bands except those dedicated to measurement of atmospheric gas - M11 and M15), and several files containing additional measurements on Ocean, Land and Atmospheric parameters and annotation. The Auxiliary data used are listed in the Manifest file associated to each product. The Level 2 FR product covers the complete instrument swath. The product duration is not fixed and it can span up to the time interval of the input Level 0/Level 1. Thus the estimated size of the Level 2 FR is dependent on the start/stop time of the acquired segment. During the Envisat mission, acquisition of MERIS Full Resolution data was subject to dedicated planning based on on-demand ordering and coverage of specific areas according to operational recommendations and considerations. See yearly and global density maps to get a better overview of the MERIS FR coverage.

  • Data - EO Sign In Authentication (Open)

    prompt photo

    Envisat MERIS Full Resolution - Level 1 [MER_FRS_1P/ME_1_FRG]

    The MERIS Level 1 Full Resolution (FR) product contains the Top of Atmosphere (TOA) upwelling spectral radiance measurements. The in-band reference irradiances for the 15 MERIS bands are computed by averaging the in-band solar irradiance of each pixel. The in-band solar irradiance of each pixel is computed by integrating the reference solar spectrum with the band-pass of each pixel. The MERIS FR Level 1 product has Sentinel 3-like format starting from the 4th reprocessing data released to users in July 2020. Each measurement and annotation data file is in NetCDF 4. The Level 1 product is composed of 22 data files: 15 files containing radiances at each band (one band per file), accompanied by the associated error estimates, and 7 annotation data files. The 15 sun spectral flux values provided in the instrument data file of the Level 1 products are the in-band reference irradiances adjusted for the Earth-sun distance at the time of measurement. The band-pass of each pixel is derived from on-ground and in-flight characterisation via an instrument model. The values "Band wavelength" and "Bandwidth" provided in the Manifest file of the Level 1b products are the averaged band-pass of each pixel over the instrument field of view. Auxiliary data are also listed in the Manifest file associated to each product. The Level 1 FR product covers the complete instrument swath. The product duration is not fixed and it can span up to the time interval of the input Level 0 (for a maximum of 20 minutes). Thus the estimated size of the Level 1 FR is dependent on the start/stop time of the acquired segment. During the Envisat mission, acquisition of MERIS Full Resolution data was subject to dedicated planning based on on-demand ordering and coverage of specific areas according to operational recommendations and considerations. See yearly and global density maps to get a better overview of the MERIS FR coverage.

  • News - General News

    prompt photo

    CryoSat’s unparalleled record of global ice continues to 2025

    CryoSat, ESA’s ice mission, has been a key to what the cryosphere community regards as a golden era for satellite altimetry.

  • News - Success Stories

    prompt photo

    COP26 fuels interest in satellite data

    As COP26 stimulates action to reduce global warming, the essential role of satellite data in understanding and monitoring climate change is apparent.

  • Document - Product Handbook

    prompt photo

    AVHRR-Handbook.pdf

    The AVHRR user handbook provides details about the content of the consolidated and harmonised data set archived at ESA facilities.