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  • Data (3)
  • News (9)
  • Missions (3)
  • Events (2)
  • Tools (2)
  • Activities (2)
  • Documents (1154)
  • 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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    Inland Waters Thematic Data Product [ALT_TDP_IW]

    This is the Inland Waters Thematic Data Product (TDP) V1 resulting from the ESA FDR4ALT project and containing improved Water Surface Height (WSH) data record from the ERS-1, ERS-2 and Envisat missions estimated using the ICE1 retracking range for its better performance on the hydro targets. 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

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    PROBA-V data improve surface albedo products in Africa

    As ESA’s PROBA-V satellite marks its 10-year launch milestone, data tasked during the mission’s lifetime are still being used to assess changes in land cover.

  • News - Data Release news

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    PROBA-V ‘Collection 2’ - Reprocessed Dataset available

    The improved PROBA-V data (Collection 2) has been released. Data is available via the PROBA-V MEP and Terrascope platforms so users can freely exploit the data using Virtual machines, Jupyter Notebooks, and the new viewing application.

  • News - Thematic area articles

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    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.

  • Event - Conference

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    Living Planet Symposium 2022

    Learn about the 2022 edition of ESA's Living Planet Symposium.

  • News - Events and Proceedings

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    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 - Spotlight on EO community

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    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.

  • News - Success Stories

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    How Envisat helped to shape global understanding of Earth’s systems

    Twenty years have passed since a ground-breaking European spacecraft designed to deliver unprecedented insight into the planet’s changing environment was lofted into orbit.

  • Activity - Projects

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    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 - Success Stories

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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 - External Data (Restrained)

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    PROBA-V 1 km, 333 m, and 100 m products

    The PROBA-V VEGETATION Raw products and Synthesis products provided coverage of all significant landmasses worldwide with, in the case of a 10-day synthesis product, a minimum effect of cloud cover, resulting from selection of cloud-free acquisitions during the 10-day period. It provided a daily coverage between Latitudes 35°N and 75°N, and between 35°S and 56°S, and a full coverage every two days at the equator. The VEGETATION instrument was pre-programmed with an indefinite repeated sequence of acquisitions. This nominal acquisition scenario allowed a continuous series of identical products to be generated, with the goal to map land cover and vegetation growth across the entire planet every two days. Level Synthesis Resolution resolution (m) Reflectance Level-1C n/a TOA Level-2A n/a 100 m TOA 333 m TOA 1 km TOA Level-3 S1 100 m TOA TOC TOC NDVI 333 m TOA TOC 1 km TOA TOC S5 100 m TOA TOC TOC NDVI S10 333 m TOC TOC NDVI 1 km TOC TOC NDVI Raw Products Overview Product Description Level-1C Level-1C segments (P – product): Radiometrically corrected Level-1B data, in raw sensor geometry (unprojected) Contains: - Top Of Atmosphere reflectance in the four spectral bands - Longitude/latitude information for every pixel - Geometric viewing conditions - Information on the status map (indicating missing and interpolated measurements). Format: HDF5 & GeoTiFF Level-2A Level-2A segment: projected Level-1C (P–product) data, radiometrically and geometrically corrected. Contains: - TOA reflectance values in the four spectral bands without atmospheric correction being performed - Information on the status map (containing identification of radiometric quality, snow, ice, shadow, clouds, land/sea for every pixel) - Geometric viewing conditions Plate carrée projection (EPSG:4326) with spatial resolution of 100 m, 333 m and 1 km Format: HDF5 & GeoTiFF Synthesis Products Overview Level-3 S1 = daily, S5 = 5 days, S10 = decade Different spatial resolution: 100 m, 333 m and 1 km Divided into so called granules, each measuring 10 degrees x 10 degrees, each granule being delivered as a single file Plate carrée projection (EPSG:4326) Format: HDF5 & GeoTiFF Products Content TOA - Top Of Atmosphere reflectance in the four spectral bands (no atmospheric correction applied) - Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) -Information on the composite status map (containing identification of snow, ice, shadow, clouds, land/sea for every pixel) - Geometric viewing conditions & date and time of selected measurement TOC Level-2A segment: projected Level-1C (P–product) data, radiometrically and geometrically corrected. Contains: - Top Of Canopy (ground surface) reflectance in the four spectral bands, the atmospheric correction being performed using the SMAC (Simplified Method for Atmospheric Corrections) algorithm - Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) - Information on the composite status map (containing identification of snow, ice, shadow, clouds, land/sea for every pixel) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from Top Of Canopy product (SMAC algorithm for atmospheric corrections applied) - Geometric viewing conditions & date and time of selected measurement TOC NDVI Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from Top Of Canopy product (SMAC algorithm for atmospheric corrections applied)

  • Mission - Earth Watch

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    PROBA-V

    The PROBA-V mission provides multispectral images to study the evolution of the vegetation cover on a daily and global basis.

  • Mission - Heritage Missions

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    Envisat

    Envisat was ESA's successor to ERS. Envisat carried ten instruments aboard for a wide range of Earth observing fields. The mission was operational from 2002 to 2012.

  • Mission - Heritage Missions

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    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.

  • Activity - Quality

    SCIRoCCo

    The SCIRoCCo project is an interdisciplinary cooperation of scatterometry experts aimed at promoting the continuing exploitation of ESA's unique 20 years' worth of ERS Scatterometer data.