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- Data (12)
- News (9)
- Missions (1)
- Events (5)
- Documents (2)
Document - Newsletter
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
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.
News - General News
Go-to guide to Third Party Mission data offering
ESA’s latest Third Party Missions Data Access Guide has been published, providing technical details and information on available data collections for all current or past Third Party Missions.
News - Operational News
Temporary interruption to Envisat AATSR dissemination service
A planned downtime will affect the access to the ftp dissemination server for the Envisat AATSR data during the period 13-15 February 2024.
News - Thematic area articles
Space data support Earth’s ecosystems
ESA’s Earth observation (EO) missions are making a critical contribution to monitoring transformations in our planet’s ecosystems, helping track changes in the vegetation, soil, and ocean that affect these systems.
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.
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.
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 - Success Stories
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.
News - Thematic area articles
Satellite data boost global understanding of land surface
Understanding our changing land surface is essential in the study of climate change. Satellites are used to monitor changes to the material that covers Earth’s surface, so-called land cover, such as vegetation and water.
Event - Workshop
Envisat Validation Workshop 2002
The workshop covered various aspects of validation of the Envisat instruments.
Data - Data Description
Envisat ASAR AP Co- and Cross-polar L0 [ASA_APC/APH/APV_0P]
The ASAR Alternating Polarization Mode Level 0 (Co-polar and Cross-polar H and V) products contain time-ordered Annotated Instrument Source Packets (AISPs) corresponding to one of the three possible polarisation combinations: HH & HV, VV & VH and HH & VV, respectively. The echo samples in the AISPs have been compressed to 4 bits/sample using FBAQ. This is a high-rate, narrow swath mode, so data is only acquired for partial orbit segments. There are two co-registered images per acquisition and may be from one of seven different image swaths. The Level 0 product was produced systematically for all data acquired within this mode. Data Size: 56-100 km across track x 100 km along track. There are three AP Mode Level 0 products: ASA_APH_0P: The Cross-polar H Level 0 product corresponds to the polarisation combination HH/HV. ASA_APV_0P: The Cross-polar V Level 0 product corresponds to the polarisation combination VV/VH. ASA_APC_0P: The Co-polar Level 0 product corresponds to the polarisation combination HH/VV= H and H received/V transmit and V received.
News - Infographics
Envisat - ESA's versatile Earth observation satellite
Learn more about ESA's Envisat mission - the largest Earth observation satellite ever built - in a new infographic.
Data - Fast Registration with approval (Restrained)
ALOS PALSAR products
The dataset contains all ESA acquisitions over the ADEN zone (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) plus some products received from JAXA over areas of interest around the world. Further information on ADEN zones can be found in this technical note. ALOS PALSAR products are available in following modes: Fine Beam Single polarisation (FBS), single polarisation (HH or VV), swath 40-70 km, resolution 10 m, temporal coverage from 02/05/2006 to 30/03/2011 Fine Beam Double polarisation (FBD), double polarisation (HH/HV or VV/VH), swath 40-70 km, resolution 10 m, temporal coverage from 02/05/2006 to 30/03/2011 Polarimetry mode (PLR), with four polarisations simultaneously: swath 30 km, resolution 30 m, temporal coverage from 26/08/2006 to 14/04/2011 ScanSAR Burst mode 1 (WB1), single polarisation: swath 250-350 km, resolution 100 m, temporal coverage from 12/06/2006 to 21/04/2011. Following processing levels are available: RAW (Level 1.0): Raw data generated by every downlink segment and every band. Divided into an equivalent size to one scene SLC (Level 1.1): Slant range single look complex product. Not available for WB1 GDH (Level 1.5): Ground range Detected, Normal resolution product GEC (Level 1.5): Geocoded product. The table summarises the ALOS PALSAR offer. Instrument mode Product type Processing level description JAXA processing level equivalent Fine Beam Single polarisation (HH or VV) FBS_RAW_0P Raw data generated by every downlink segment and every band. Divided into an equivalent size to one scene 1.0 FBS_GDH_1P Ground range Detected, Normal resolution product 1.5 FBS_GEC_1P Geocoded product 1.5 FBS_SLC_1P Slant range single look complex product 1.1 Fine Beam Double polarisation (HH/HV or VV/VH) FBD_RAW_0P Raw data generated by every downlink segment and every band. Divided into an equivalent size to one scene 1.0 FBD_GDH_1P Ground range Detected, Normal resolution product 1.5 FBD_GEC_1P Geocoded product 1.5 FBD_SLC_1P Slant range single look complex product 1.1 Polarimetry mode (4 polarisation) PLR_RAW_0P Raw data generated by every downlink segment and every band. Divided into an equivalent size to one scene 1.0 PLR_GDH_1P Ground range Detected, Normal resolution product 1.5 PLR_GEC_1P Geocoded product 1.5 PLR_SLC_1P Slant range single look complex product 1.1 ScanSAR Burst mode 1 (single polarisation) WB1_RAW_0P Raw data generated by every downlink segment and every band. Divided into an equivalent size to one scene 1.0 WB1_GDH_1P Ground range Detected, Normal resolution product 1.5 WB1_GEC_1P Geocoded product 1.5
Data - Data Description
TropForest - ALOS, GEOSAT-1 & KOMPSAT-2 optical coverages over tropical forests
The objective of the ESA TropForest project was to create a harmonised geo-database of ready-to-use satellite imagery to support 2010 global forest assessment performed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission and by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Assessments for year 2010 were essential for building realistic deforestation benchmark rates at global to regional levels. To reach this objective, the project aimed to create a harmonised ortho-rectified/pre-processed imagery geo-database based on satellite data acquisitions (ALOS AVNIR-2, GEOSAT-1 SLIM6, KOMPSAT-2 MSC) performed during year 2009 and 2010, for the Tropical Latin America (excluding Mexico) and for the Tropical South and Southeast Asia (excluding China), resulting in 1971 sites located at 1° x 1° geographical lat/long intersections. The project finally delivered 1866 sites (94.7% of target) due to cloud coverages too high for missing sites. Spatial coverage: Check the spatial coverage of the collection on a map available on the Third Party Missions Dissemination Service.
Data - EO Sign In Authentication (Open)
Envisat ASAR AP Medium Resolution L1 [ASA_APM_1P]
This ASAR Alternating Polarization Medium Resolution Image product has been generated from Level 0 data collected when the instrument was in Alternating Polarisation Mode. The product has lower geometric resolution but higher radiometric resolution than ASA_APP and contains one or two co-registered images corresponding to one of the three polarisation combination sub modes (HH and VV, HH and HV, VV and VH). This product has been processed using the SPECAN algorithm and contains radiometric resolution good enough for ice applications and covers a continuous area along the imaging swath. The ASAR AP L0 full mission data archive has been bulk processed to Level 1 (ASA_APM_1P) in Envisat format with the IPF-ASAR processor Version 6.03. Spatial Resolution: 150 m ground range x 150 m azimuth.
Data - EO Sign In Authentication (Open)
Envisat ASAR AP Single-Look Complex L1 [ASA_APS_1P]
This product is a complex, slant-range, digital image generated from Level 0 data collected when the instrument is in Alternating Polarisation mode. (7 possible swaths). It contains two CO-registered images corresponding to one of the three polarisation combination submodes (HH and VV, HH and HV, VV and VH). In addition, the product uses the Range Doppler algorithm and the most up to date processing parameters available at the time of processing. It can be used to derive higher level products for SAR image quality assessment, calibration and interferometric applications, if allowed by the instrument acquisition. A minimum number of corrections and interpolations are performed on the data in order to allow the end-user maximum freedom to derive higher level products. Complex output data is retained to avoid loss of information. Absolute calibration parameters are available depending on external calibration activities and are provided in the product annotations. Spatial Resolution: Approximately 8m slant range x approximately 4m azimuth.
Data - EO Sign In Authentication (Open)
Envisat ASAR Global Monitoring L1 [ASA_GM1_1P]
This product has been generated from Level 0 data collected when the instrument was in Global Monitoring Mode. One product covers a full orbit. The product includes slant range to ground range corrections. This strip-line product is the standard for ASAR Global Monitoring Mode. It is processed to approximately 1 km resolution using the SPECAN algorithm. The swath width is approximately 400 km. The ASAR GM L0 full mission data archive has been bulk processed to Level 1 (ASA_GM1_1P) in Envisat format with the IPF-ASAR processor Version 6.03. Spatial Resolution: 1 km ground range x 1 km azimuth.
Data - EO Sign In Authentication (Open)
Envisat ASAR AP Precision L1 [ASA_APP_1P]
This ASAR Alternating Polarisation Mode Precision product is generated from Level 0 data collected when the instrument is in Alternating Polarisation Mode (7 possible swaths). The product contains two CO-registered images corresponding to one of the three polarisation combination submodes (HH and VV, HH and HV, VV and VH). This is a stand-alone multi-look, ground range, narrow swath digital image generated using the SPECAN algorithm and the most up to date auxiliary information available at the time of processing. Engineering corrections and relative calibration (antenna elevation gain, range spreading loss) are applied to compensate for well-understood sources of system variability. Generation of this product uses a technique to allow half the looks of an image to be acquired in horizontal polarisation and the other half in vertical polarisation and processed to 30-m resolution (with the exception of IS1). Absolute calibration parameters are available depending on external calibration activities and are provided in the product annotations. Spatial Resolution: 30 m ground range x 30 m azimuth.
Data - EO Sign In Authentication (Open)
Envisat ASAR WS Medium Resolution L1 [ASA_WSM_1P]
The strip-line product has been generated from Level 0 data collected when the instrument was in Wide Swath Mode. The product includes slant range to ground range corrections and covers a continuous area along the imaging swath. It is intended to perform application oriented analysis on large scale phenomena over a wide region and for multi-temporal imaging. This is the standard product for ASAR Wide Swath Mode. The ASAR WS L0 full mission data archive has been bulk processed to Level 1 (ASA_WSM_1P) in Envisat format with the IPF-ASAR processor Version 6.03. Spatial Resolution: 150 m slant range x 150 m azimuth.