Earth Topics
 What has half a century of Earth Observation taught us? The single biggest revolution is that our planet is always in flux. Like traditional paper maps, an individual satellite acquisition is rapidly outdated. But repeat acquisitions add a time dimension, capturing the dynamic complexity of the Earth system - differences between a wide array of satellite sensors, improving the understanding of how the Earth system works and the impact of human activities. |
Latest Featured Image
São Miguel, Azores21 September 2018The Copernicus Sentinel-2A satellite takes us over the largest island of the Azores: São Miguel. The Azores form a string of volcanic islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, some 1500 km west of mainland Portugal. |
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Agriculture
 Roughly 37% of Earth’s land is today employed for agricultural purposes, with about 11% used for growing crops and the reminder for pasture.
Solid Earth
 Looking down on Earth from space is a surprisingly accurate way of detecting ground motion and subterranean features.
Land
 Earth’s land is the most varied terrain in the Solar System. Satellites classify land cover on an objective global basis, tracking changes as they occur.
Snow and Ice
 The snow-and-ice 'cryosphere' is an important regulator of global climate - but one that is unequally sensitive to the effects of global warming. |
Atmosphere
 Space-based sensors detect otherwise invisible changes to the chemical composition of the atmosphere.
Water
 All life on land depends on surface freshwater, placed there by the water cycle - a phenomenon vulnerable to climate change.
Ocean and Coasts
 Oceans cover 71% of Earth's surface. They determine our climate and represent an economic mainstay: 60% of people live less than 60 km from the sea.
Natural Disasters
 Major catastrophes are currently occurring once a fortnight on average. Damage mapping by satellite helps guide emergency response efforts. |
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