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- Data (9)
- News (7)
- Missions (3)
- Events (5)
- Tools (2)
- Activities (2)
- Documents (534)
News - General News
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 - Thematic area articles
Global understanding of Earth's land surfaces greatly boosted by satellite data
ESA perform land surface monitoring with a range of instruments onboard satellites acquiring optical and radar data. Collections of data from these missions are freely available for research purposes.
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 - 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.
Activity - Projects
Dragon 2 Cooperation Programme
The Dragon 2 Programme focussed on the exploitation of ESA, ESA's Third Party Missions and Chinese Earth observation data for science and applications development in land, ocean and atmospheric applications.
News - Data Release news
New reprocessing of datasets celebrates 30 years of ERS
The ERS programme celebrated its 30th anniversary on 17 July. Today, we are still exploiting ERS data and experts continue to work on improving the altimeter, radiometer and SAR data the programme acquired.
News - Success Stories
ERS Heritage Data allow for 30 years of science
At their time of launch thirty years ago, the two ERS satellites were the most sophisticated Earth observation spacecraft ever developed and launched by Europe.
News - Infographics
ERS - ESA’s first Earth observation satellites
To mark the 30th anniversary of ERS, we've released a new infographic summarising the mission.
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.
Document - Technical Note
ESRIN-ERS-Central-Facility-GAP-Files-Interface-Specification.pdf
This document specifies the interface through which files of data related to the Global Activity Plan (GAP), stored in the ESRIN ERS Central Facility (EECF), are transmitted to the external entities. The EECF systems involved in this data exchange are the Interface Subset (ISS), responsible for telecommunication aspects and preprocessing, and the Central User Service (CUS), where the GAP resides.
Document - Technical Note
ERS-National-and-Foreign-Stations-Operators-Working-Group.pdf
This document presents material from the ERS National and Foreign Ground Station Operators Working Group Meeting, which took place in Toulouse, France, from 14 to 15 December 1995.
Data - Fast Registration with approval (Restrained)
WorldView ESA archive
The WorldView ESA archive is composed of products acquired by WorldView-1, -2, -3 and -4 satellites and requested by ESA supported projects over their areas of interest around the world Panchromatic, 4-Bands, 8-Bands and SWIR products are part of the offer, with the resolution at Nadir depicted in the table. Band Combination Mission GSD Resolution at Nadir GSD Resolution (20° off nadir) Panchromatic WV-1 50 cm 55 cm WV-2 46 cm 52 cm WV-3 31 cm 34 cm WV-4 31 cm 34 cm 4-Bands WV-2 1.84 m 2.4 m WV-3 1.24 m 1.38 m WV-4 1.24 m 1.38 m 8-Bands WV-2 1.84 m 2.4 m WV-3 1.24 m 1.38 m SWIR WV-3 3.70 m 4.10 m The 4-Bands includes various options such as Multispectral (separate channel for Blue, Green, Red, NIR1), Pan-sharpened (Blue, Green, Red, NIR1), Bundle (separate bands for PAN, Blue, Green, Red, NIR1), Natural Colour (pan-sharpened Blue, Green, Red), Coloured Infrared (pan-sharpened Green, Red, NIR). The 8-Bands being an option from Multispectral (COASTAL, Blue, Green, Yellow, Red, Red EDGE, NIR1, NIR2) and Bundle (PAN, COASTAL, Blue, Green, Yellow, Red, Red EDGE, NIR1, NIR2). The processing levels are: Standard (2A): normalised for topographic relief View Ready Standard: ready for orthorectification (RPB files embedded) View Ready Stereo: collected in-track for stereo viewing and manipulation (not available for SWIR) Map Scale (Ortho) 1:12,000 Orthorectified: additional processing unnecessary Spatial coverage: Check the spatial coverage of the collection on a map available on the Third Party Missions Dissemination Service. The following table summarises the offered product types EO-SIP Product Type Band Combination Processing Level Missions WV6_PAN_2A Panchromatic (PAN) Standard/View Ready Standard WorldView-1 and 4 WV6_PAN_OR Panchromatic (PAN) View Ready Stereo WorldView-1 and 4 WV6_PAN_MP Panchromatic (PAN) Map Scale Ortho WorldView-1 and 4 WV1_PAN__2A Panchromatic (PAN) Standard/View Ready Standard WorldView-2 and 3 WV1_PAN__OR Panchromatic (PAN) View Ready Stereo WorldView-2 and 3 WV1_PAN__MP Panchromatic (PAN) Map Scale Ortho WorldView-2 and 3 WV1_4B__2A 4-Band (4B) Standard/View Ready Standard WorldView-2, 3 and 4 WV1_4B__OR 4-Band (4B) View Ready Stereo WorldView-2, 3 and 4 WV1_4B__MP 4-Band (4B) Map Scale Ortho WorldView-2, 3 and 4 WV1_8B_2A 8-Band (8B) Standard/View Ready Standard WorldView-2 and 3 WV1_8B_OR 8-Band (8B) View Ready Stereo WorldView-2 and 3 WV1_8B_MP 8-Band (8B) Map Scale Ortho WorldView-2 and 3 WV1_S8B__2A SWIR Standard/View Ready Standard WorldView-3 WV1_S8B__MP SWIR Map Scale Ortho WorldView-3 As per ESA policy, very high-resolution imagery of conflict areas cannot be provided.
Data - Fast Registration with approval (Restrained)
WorldView-1 full archive and tasking
WorldView-1 high resolution optical products are available as part of the Maxar Standard Satellite Imagery products from the QuickBird, WorldView-1/-2/-3/-4, and GeoEye-1 satellites. All details about the data provision, data access conditions and quota assignment procedure are described into the Terms of Applicability available in Resources section. In particular, WorldView-1 offers archive and tasking panchromatic products up to 0.50 m GSD resolution. Band Combination Data Processing Level Resolution Panchromatic Standard(2A)/View Ready STANDARD (OR2A) 50 cm, 30 cm HD View Ready Stereo 50 cm Map-Ready (Ortho) 1:12.000 Orthorectified 50 cm, 30 cm HD Native 50 cm resolution products are processed with MAXAR HD Technology to generate the 30 cm HD products: the initial special resolution (GSD) is unchanged but the HD technique increases the number of pixels and improves the visual clarity achieving aesthetically refined imagery with precise edges and well reconstructed details. As per ESA policy, very high-resolution imagery of conflict areas cannot be provided.
Data - EO Sign In Authentication (Open)
ERS-1/2 SAR IM Precision L1 [SAR_IMP_1P]
The SAR Precision product is a multi-look (speckle-reduced), ground range image acquired in Image Mode. This product type is most applicable to users interested in remote sensing applications, but is also suitable for calibration purposes. The products are calibrated and corrected for the SAR antenna pattern and range-spreading loss. Radar backscatter can be derived from the products for geophysical modelling, but no correction is applied for terrain-induced radiometric effects. The images are not geocoded, and terrain distortion (foreshortening and layover) has not been removed. The numbering sequence relates to the satellite position and therefore differs between Ascending and Descending scenes. Product characteristics: Pixel size: 12.5 m (range - across track) x 12.5 m (azimuth - along track) Scene area: 100 km (range) x at least 102.5 km (azimuth) Scene size: 8000 pixels range x at least 8200 lines (azimuth) Pixel depth: 16 bits unsigned integer Total product volume: 125 MB Projection: Ground-range Number of looks: 3.
Data - EO Sign In Authentication (Open)
ERS-1/2 SAR IM Single Look Complex L1 [SAR_IMS_1P]
The SAR SLC product is a single look complex acquired in Image Mode. It is a digital image, with slant range and phase preserved, generated from raw SAR data using up-to-date auxiliary parameters. The products are intended for use in SAR quality assessment, calibration and interferometric applications. A minimum number of corrections and interpolations are performed on the data. Absolute calibration parameters (when available) are provided in the product annotation. Product characteristics: Pixel size: 8 m (range - across track) x 4 m (azimuth - along track – varying slightly depending on acquisition Pulse Repetition Frequency) Scene area: 100 km (range) x at least 102.5 km (azimuth) Scene size: 5000 samples (range) x at least 30000 lines (azimuth) Pixel depth: 32 bits signed integer (16 bits I, 16 bits Q) Total product volume: 575 MB Projection: Slant range- Number of looks: 1.
Data - Data Service Request (Restrained)
ERS-1/2 SAR IM L0 [SAR_IM__0P]
This SAR Level 0 product is acquired in Image Mode. The products consist of the SAR telemetry data and are supplied as standard scenes. It also contains all the required auxiliary data necessary for data processing. The product serves two main purposes: For testing ERS SAR processors independently from the HDDR system For users interested in full SAR data processing. Product characteristics: Scene area: 100 km (range - across track) x full segment length (azimuth - along track) Scene size: 5616 samples (range) x full segment length (azimuth) Pixel depth: 10 bits signed integer (5 bits I, 5 bits Q) Projection: Slant range.
Data - EO Sign In Authentication (Open)
ERS-1/2 SAR IM Medium Resolution L1 [SAR_IMM_1P]
This ERS Medium Resolution stripline product is generated from the Image Mode Level 0 Product. Stripline image products contain image data for an entire segment, up to a maximum size of 10 minutes per product for IM mode. The processor concatenates together several sub-images called "slices" that were processed separately on a dataset-by-dataset basis in order to form the entire stripline image. The product is processed to an approximately 150 m x 150 m resolution and has a radiometric resolution that is good enough for ice applications. This product has a lower spatial resolution than the SAR_IMP_1P and SAR_IMS_1P products. Product Characteristics: Pixel size: 5 m (ground range – across track) x 75 m (azimuth – along track) Scene area: 100 km (range) x at least 102.5 km Scene Size: 1300 pixels (range) x at least 1350 lines (azimuth) Pixel depth: 16 bits unsigned integer- Total product volume: at least 3.5 MB Projection: Ground-range Number of looks: 8 (azimuth) x 7 (range).
Data - Fast Registration with approval (Restrained)
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.
Data - Fast Registration with approval (Restrained)
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.