- All Categories (25)
- Data (4)
- News (8)
- Missions (1)
- Events (10)
- Tools (2)
Data - EO Sign In Authentication (Open)
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 - Success Stories
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
Satellites investigate Earth’s terrestrial hydrosphere
ESA’s Earth observation satellites are playing a leading role in furthering our understanding of how Earth’s water cycle is being influenced by humankind.
News - Success Stories
Decades of satellite data reveal the risks of climate tipping points
Decades-long time series that draw on ESA’s Earth observation archives are enabling scientists to uncover the threat of sudden and potentially irreversible changes to the icy parts of the planet.
News - Thematic area articles
Satellites reveal changes to Earth’s icy zones
ESA’s Earth observation activities are helping scientists investigate the influence of climate change on widespread ice-losses across the planet.
Event - Training
EO Summer School 7
ESA's series of summer schools, on Monitoring of the Earth System, aims to promote the exploitation of Earth observation data.
Event - Training
EO Summer School 6
ESA's series of summer schools, on Monitoring of the Earth System, aims to promote the exploitation of Earth observation data.
Event - Training
EO Summer School 5
ESA's series of summer schools, on Monitoring of the Earth System, aims to promote the exploitation of Earth observation data.
Event - Training
EO Summer School 3
ESA's series of summer schools, on Monitoring of the Earth System, aims to promote the exploitation of Earth observation data.
News - Thematic area articles
Transforming space data into climate action
ESA’s Earth observation activities are playing a key role in the revitalised global drive to combat climate change.
News - Events and Proceedings
Data preservation takes centre stage at Living Planet Symposium
Against the backdrop of the famed Rhine River, world-class scientists and Earth observation data-users are gathered this week in the historical city of Bonn, at the Living Planet Symposium (LPS).
News - Thematic area articles
Satellite data central to ocean monitoring
Over 95% of Earth’s water is found in our oceans, and yet sadly, oceans are under stress from climate change and pollution. Monitoring our oceans is vital for Earth’s survival and satellites are the primary means of long-term and independent observation of our vast ocean bodies and their associated coastal zones.
News - Spotlight on EO community
Introducing Mirko Albani
In this short introduction, ESA's Heritage Missions Programme Manager describes what he likes most about ESA's long term archive of satellite mission data and his role in the programme.
Event - Training
2nd Advanced Training Course on Ocean Remote Sensing 2009
This advanced training course focused on ocean remote sensing theory and applications.
Tools - Apps
Heritage Missions app for iOS
Download the Heritage Missions application to discover what the missions were about, how it worked and what the elements of the space and ground segment that make these missions unique.
Tools - Apps
Heritage Missions app for Android
Download the Heritage Missions application to discover what the missions were about, how it worked and what the elements of the space and ground segment that make these missions unique.
Data - Data Description
ERS-1/2 Radar Altimeter REAPER METEO Product - [ERS_ALT_2M]
This is a RA Meteo product containing only the 1 Hz parameters for altimeter (surface range, satellite altitude, wind speed and significant wave height at nadir) and ATSR/MWR data (brightness temperature at 23.8 GHz and 36.5 GHz, water vapour content, liquid water content) used to correct altimeter measurements. It also contains the full geophysical corrections. This product corresponds to a subset of the REAPER GDR product (ERS_ALT_2_). The REAPER (REprocessing of Altimeter Products for ERS) product is generated by applying a similar processing as for Envisat RA-2 on the Level 1b consolidated waveforms using 4 different re-trackers, RA calibration improvement, new precise orbit solution (POD), new ionospheric corrections (NICO09 until 1998 and GIM up to 2003), ECMWF ERA-interim model and updated SSB tables. This product contains only the low rate of 1 Hz data. The REAPER Meteo (ERS_ALT_2M) is a global product including data over ocean, ice and land. It should be noted that this product differs from the Envisat RA2 in the following ways: The product format; which is NetCDF (more details can be found in the Product Handbook), and not PDS The product is delivered based on orbit acquisition and not per pass (pole-to-pole). This product is extended through Envisat RA-2 data.
Data - Fast Registration with immediate access (Open)
ERS-1/2 Radar Altimeter REAPER Geophysical Data Record - GDR [ERS_ALT_2]
This is a RA Geophysical Data Record (GDR) product containing radar range, orbital altitude, wind speed, wave height and water vapour from the ATSR/MWR as well as geophysical corrections. The REAPER (REprocessing of Altimeter Products for ERS) product is generated by applying a similar processing as for Envisat RA-2 on the Level 1b consolidated waveforms using 4 different re-trackers, RA calibration improvement, new precise orbit solution (POD), new ionospheric corrections (NICO09 until 1998 and GIM up to 2003), ECMWF ERA-interim model and updated SSB tables. This product contains two data rates: a low rate of 1 Hz and a high rate of 20 Hz. Most 1 Hz data is also represented at 20 Hz, while microwave radiometer (ATSR/MWR) data and the atmospheric and geophysical corrections are only given at 1 Hz. The REAPER GDR (ERS_ALT_2_) is a global product including data over ocean, ice and land. It should be noted that this product differs from the Envisat RA2 in the following ways: The product format; which is NetCDF (more details can be found in the Product Handbook, and not PDS The product is delivered based on orbit acquisition and not per pass (pole-to-pole). This product is extended through Envisat RA-2 data.
Data - Fast Registration with immediate access (Open)
ERS-1/2 Radar Altimeter REAPER Sensor Geophysical Data Record - SGDR [ERS_ALT_2S]
This is a RA Geophysical Data Record (GDR) product containing radar range, orbital altitude, wind speed, wave height and water vapour from the ATSR/MWR as well as geophysical corrections. The REAPER (REprocessing of Altimeter Products for ERS) product is generated by applying a similar processing as for Envisat RA-2 on the Level 1b consolidated waveforms using 4 different re-trackers, RA calibration improvement, new precise orbit solution (POD), new ionospheric corrections (NICO09 until 1998 and GIM up to 2003), ECMWF ERA-interim model and updated SSB tables. This product contains two data rates: a low rate of 1 Hz and a high rate of 20 Hz. Most 1 Hz data is also represented at 20 Hz, while microwave radiometer (ATSR/MWR) data and the atmospheric and geophysical corrections are only given at 1 Hz. The REAPER GDR (ERS_ALT_2_) is a global product including data over ocean, ice and land. It should be noted that this product differs from the Envisat RA2 in the following ways: The product format; which is NetCDF (more details can be found in the Product Handbook, and not PDS The product is delivered based on orbit acquisition and not per pass (pole-to-pole). This product is extended through Envisat RA-2 data.
Mission - Heritage Missions
ERS
The ERS programme was composed of two missions, ERS-1 and ERS-2, which together observed the Earth for 20 years, from 1991 to 2011.