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- Data (4)
- News (10)
- Missions (3)
- Events (3)
- Tools (2)
- Activities (2)
- Documents (1014)
News - Infographics
Showcasing Fundamental Data Records for Altimetry
ESA has developed a comprehensive suite of Earth system data records as part of the Fundamental Data Records for Altimetry (FDR4ALT) project.
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.
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.
Data - EO Sign In Authentication (Open)
Atmospheric Thematic Data Product [MWR_TDPATM]
This is the Atmospheric Thematic Data Product (TDP) V1 resulting from the ESA FDR4ALT project and containing Total Column Water Vapour (TCWV), Cloud Liquid Water Path (LWP), Atmospheric Attenuation of the altimeter backscattering coefficient at Ku-band (AttKu), and Wet Tropospheric Correction (WTC), retrieved from observations of the Microwave Radiometer (MWR) instruments flown on-board the ERS-1, and ERS-2, and Envisat satellites. Compared to existing datasets, the Atmospheric TDP demonstrates notable improvements in several aspects: Improved temporal coverage, especially for ERS-2 Improved L0 -> 1 processing Two different corrections are provided based on a neural network retrieval or on a 1D-VAR approach 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 - Operational News
GOSAT – TANSO-FTS observations unavailability
Due to an inclination control manoeuvre of the JAXA GOSAT-1 satellite, the TANSO-FTS sensor observations have been suspended.
News - Success Stories
Satellites track the health of the ozone layer
ESA’s Earth observation activities are contributing to international efforts to monitor and preserve the layer of stratospheric ozone that blankets the planet.
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 - Thematic area articles
Space data help to unravel the complexities of Earth’s atmosphere
As the impacts of the climate crisis intensify, scientists are using ESA’s Earth observation archives to investigate atmospheric processes and their influences on the planet’s changing environment.
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.
Event - Workshop
Envisat Validation Workshop 2002
The workshop covered various aspects of validation of the Envisat instruments.
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.
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 immediate access (Open)
Envisat RA-2 Sensor and Geophysical Data Record - SGDR [RA2_MWS__2P]
This is a RA-2 Sensor and Geophysical Data Record (SGDR) Full Mission Reprocessing (FMR) V3 product. This FMR follows the first Envisat Altimetry reprocessing Version (V2.1) completed in 2012. The GDR and S-GDR data products were reprocessed for all cycles from 6 to 113 (May 2002 to April 2012) into a homogeneous standard in NetCDF format (close to Sentinel-3). The Sensor Data Record (SGDR) Product from RA-2/MWR includes the data in the GDR product (RA-2 geophysical data, MWR data) and also RA-2 averaged waveforms (18Hz) and RA-2 individual waveforms (1800Hz). This product is a continuation of ERS RA data. This data product has a coverage of 1 pass and pole to pole, a spatial sampling of about 390 m along track and a size of 31 to 40 MB, depending on presence of individual waveforms. The radiometric accuracy is 0.2 dB and auxiliary data include: Orbit state vectors (DORIS, FOS), RA2 and MWR characterisation data, Platform attitude, Gain calibration, USO frequency, ECMWF data, time relation, leap second, Ionospheric corrections, geoid, mean sea surface, slope data, and tide model (ocean, earth, loading, pole). Please consult the Envisat RA-2/MWR Product Quality Readme file before using the data.
Data - Fast Registration with immediate access (Open)
Envisat RA-2 Geophysical Data Record - GDR [RA2_GDR__2P]
This is a RA-2 Geophysical Data Record (GDR) Full Mission Reprocessing (FMR) V3 product containing radar range and orbital altitude, wind speed, wave height, water vapour from the MWR and geophysical corrections. This FMR follows the first Envisat Altimetry reprocessing Version (V2.1) completed in 2012. The GDR and S-GDR data products were reprocessed for all cycles from 6 to 113 (May 2002 to April 2012) into a homogeneous standard in NetCDF format (close to Sentinel-3). For many aspects, the V3.0 reprocessed data are better than the previous dataset: In terms of available and valid data, the coverage is better, notably thanks to a better availability of MWR data at the beginning of the mission In terms of performance at cross-overs, the quality is improved: the annual signal and average of Mean SSH is decreased, as well as the standard deviation The new MWR characteristics were shown to improve largely the global quality of data. As well as the new tide model, the new MSS and the new orbit standard The Global and regional Mean Sea Level trend is very weakly impacted though the effort was put, this time, on the mesoscale restitution, rather than long term drift, as during V2.1 reprocessing. Please consult the Envisat RA-2/MWR Product Quality Readme file PDF before using the data.
Data - Fast Registration with immediate access (Open)
GOSAT TANSO FTS and CAI full archive and new products
The TANSO-FTS instrument on-board GOSAT satellite features high optical throughput, fine spectral resolution, and a wide spectral coverage (from VIS to TIR in four bands). The reflective radiative energy is covered by the VIS and SWIR (Shortwave Infrared) ranges, while the emissive portion of radiation from Earth's surface and the atmosphere is covered by the MWIR (Midwave Infrared) and TIR (Thermal Infrared) ranges. These spectra include the absorption lines of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). The TANSO-CAI instrument on-board GOSAT satellite is a radiometer in the spectral ranges of ultraviolet (UV), visible, and SWIR to correct cloud and aerosol interference. The imager has continuous spatial coverage, a wider field of view, and higher spatial resolution than the FTS in order to detect the aerosol spatial distribution and cloud coverage. Using the multispectral bands, the spectral characteristics of the aerosol scattering can be retrieved together with optical thickness. In addition, the UV-band range observations provide the aerosol data over land. With the FTS spectra, imager data, and the retrieval algorithm to remove cloud and aerosol contamination, the column density of the gases can be the column density of the gases can be retrieved with an accuracy of 1%. The full ESA archive and newly acquired/systematically processed GOSAT FTS and CAI products are available in the following processing levels: FTS Observation mode 1 L1B, day (FTS_OB1D_1) FTS Observation mode 1 L1B, night (FTS_OB1N_1) FTS Special Observation L1B, day (FTS_SPOD_1) FTS Special Observation L1B, night (FTS_SPON_1) FTS L2 CO2 profile, TIR (FTS_P01T_2) FTS L2 CH4 profile, TIR (FTS_P02T_2) FTS L2 CH4 column amount, SWIR (FTS_C02S_2) FTS L2 CO2 column amount, SWIR (FTS_C01S_2) FTS L2 H2O column amount, SWIR (FTS_C03S_2) FTS L3 global CO2 distribution, SWIR (FTS_C01S_3) FTS L3 global CH4 distribution, SWIR (FTS_C02S_3) FTS L4A global CO2 flux, annual in text format (FTS_F01M4A) FTS L4A global CO2 flux, annual in netCDF format (FTS_F03M4A) FTS L4A global CO2 distribution (FTS_P01M4B) FTS L4A global CH4 flux, annual in text format (FTS_F02M4A) FTS L4A global CH4 flux, annual in netCDF format (FTS_F04M4A) FTS L4A global CH4 distribution (FTS_P02M4B) CAI L1B data (CAI_TRB0_1) CAI L1B+ (CAI_TRBP_1) CAI L2 cloud flag (CAI_CLDM_2) CAI L3 global reflect. distrib. clear sky (CAI_TRCF_3) CAI L3 global radiance distrib. all pixels (CAI_TRCL_3) CAI L3 global NDVI (CAI_NDVI_3). All products are made available as soon as processed and received from JAXA. To satisfy NearRealTime requirements, ESA also provides access to the FTS L1X products, which are the NRT version of FTS L1B products. The main difference between L1X and L1B is that L1X does not include CAM data, best-estimate pointing-location, and target point classification, but most of all the L1X products are available on the ESA server between 2 and 5 hours after acquisition. The L1X products remains on the FTP server for 5 days, the time for the corresponding L1B to be available. A document describing the differences between L1X and L1B products is listed in the available resources. For more details on products, please refer to below product specifications.
Mission - Heritage Missions
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 - Third Party Missions
GOSAT Series
The GOSAT series is composed of two environment-monitoring satellites developed by JAXA dedicated to the observation of greenhouse gases.