earth online
  • All Categories (82)
  • Data (17)
  • News (23)
  • Missions (7)
  • Events (19)
  • Tools (3)
  • Activities (7)
  • Campaigns (1)
  • Documents (5)
  • News - Infographics

    prompt photo

    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

    prompt photo

    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

    prompt photo

    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)

    prompt photo

    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.

  • Data - EO Sign In Authentication (Open)

    prompt photo

    Ocean and Coastal Topography Thematic Data Product [ALT_TDP_OC]

    This is the Ocean and Coastal Topography Thematic Data Product (TDP) V1 resulting from the ESA FDR4ALT project and containing improved sea surface height anomaly data records both at 1 Hz and 20 Hz resolution to address climate and/or coastal areas studies. The collection covers data for the ERS-1, ERS-2 and Envisat missions. Note that a dedicated processing to coastal zones has been applied for coastal distances below 200 km. Compared to existing datasets, the Ocean and Coastal Topography TDP demonstrates notable improvements in several aspects: Up-to-date orbit and geophysical corrections applied Adaptive retracker for Envisat 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)

    prompt photo

    Ocean Waves Thematic Data Product [ALT_TDP_WA]

    This is the Ocean Waves Thematic Data Product (TDP) V1 resulting from the ESA FDR4ALT project and containing Significant Wave Height estimates for the ERS-1, ERS-2 and Envisat missions. Compared to existing datasets, the Ocean Waves TDP demonstrates notable improvements in several aspects: Great improvements for Envisat due to noise reduction from Adaptive retracker and High-Frequency Adjustment (HFA) All variables are given at 5 Hz 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

    prompt photo

    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

    prompt photo

    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.

  • News - Thematic area articles

    prompt photo

    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 - Success Stories

    prompt photo

    New worldwide dataset captures the planet in fine detail

    Scientists have developed an open source planetwide dataset of high-resolution Earth observation imagery, thanks to commercial data delivered by ESA’s Third Party Missions (TPM) programme.

  • News - Thematic area articles

    prompt photo

    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.

  • Activity - General activities

    prompt photo

    EO Summer Schools

    ESA's series of summer schools, on Monitoring of the Earth System, aims to promote the exploitation of Earth observation (EO) data.

  • Event - Training

    prompt photo

    EO Summer School 8

    ESA's series of summer schools, on Monitoring of the Earth System, aims to promote the exploitation of Earth observation data.

  • Event - Training

    prompt photo

    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

    prompt photo

    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

    prompt photo

    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

    prompt photo

    EO Summer School 4

    ESA's series of summer schools, on Monitoring of the Earth System, aims to promote the exploitation of Earth observation data.

  • Event - Training

    prompt photo

    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.

  • Event - Conference

    prompt photo

    Living Planet Symposium 2022

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

  • News - Thematic area articles

    prompt photo

    Space helps monitor Earth’s changing biosphere

    Earth’s biosphere is continually changing. Through its pioneering Earth observation missions, ESA is making critical contributions to monitor these changes and their impacts on Earth’s water and carbon cycles.