ESA are pleased to invite you to participate in the 2019 Living Planet Symposium. The event, which is held every three years, will take place on 13–17 May 2019 in Milan, Italy. The Symposium is organised with the support of the Italian Space Agency.

This symposium focuses on how Earth Observation contributes to science and society, and how disruptive technologies and actors are changing the traditional Earth Observation landscape, which is also creating new opportunities for public and private sector interactions.

Abstract submission opens on 10 September 2018

The 2019 Conference on Big Data from Space (BiDS'19) 'Turning Data into Insights', takes place on 19-21 February 2019 in Alte Kongresshalle, Munich, Germany.

The BiDS'19 Conference is co-organised by the European Space Agency (ESA), the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission, and the European Union Satellite Centre (SatCen).

Big Data from Space refers to the massive spatio-temporal Earth and Space observation data collected by a variety of sensors - ranging from ground based to space-borne - and the synergetic use of data coming from other sources and communities.

For more information and important dates please visit the course website.

Paper submission deadline: 15 October 2018

In the context of the EO Science for Society Programme Element, the European Space Agency is organising ATMOS 2018, a conference on the topical theme Atmosphere aimed at exploiting data from ESA and EO Missions for science and application development.

The purpose of this conference is to provide scientists and data users with the opportunity to present first-hand and up-to-date results from their ongoing research and application development activities by using data from past and current atmospheric instruments like Sentinel-5P, Aeolus, ERS-2, Envisat, Metop, and ESA Third Party Missions. Another aspect will be on discussing activities regarding future missions.

The conference will be held in Salzburg (Austria) from 26 to 29 November 2018. The outcome of this conference will help to further shape the next generation of R&D activities in the frame of ESA's Earth Observation Programme.

Abstract submission deadline: 15 August 2018

The European Space Agency (ESA) is organising a Φ-week event focusing on EO Open Science and FutureEO to review the latest developments in Open Science trends and kick-start innovative activities of the recently created Φ-department. This department and its associated Φ-lab is looking at FutureEO and aims to identify, support and scale bold EO ideas. This event will be hosted in ESA-ESRIN.

Jointly organized by ESA and CNES, the 2018 Ocean Salinity Science Conference will take place from 06 to 09 November 2018 at the Sorbonne University, Paris, France.

Ocean salinity is a key parameter that links various elements of the water cycle to ocean circulation dynamics and climate. Furthermore, salinity is a key dynamical parameter that influences oceans dynamics. Through the advent of new observing technologies, remote sensing and in situ, salinity research has gained much attention over the recent years, now leading to rapidly growing new insights.

The conference intends to bring together communities working on all aspects of ocean salinity investigations, including analyses undertaken from in situ and satellite observations, numerical models, and data assimilation. The conference will review progress and ongoing work, and aims to identify the next frontiers in the fields of ocean salinity science. In particular, it will focus on recent progress in:

1. Observing ocean salinity
2. Process-based insights from field observations
3. Ocean dynamics and salinity assimilation in ocean models
4. Global freshwater cycle and climate variability
5. Biogeochemistry
6. Surface freshwater fluxes, run off, and sea ice.
7. Challenges and requirements for future salinity observing, remote sensing and in situ.

Abstract submission deadline: 06 July 2018

Registration deadline: 15 October 2018

In the frame of the EO Science for Society Programme Element, the European Space Agency is organising the second conference on Mapping Urban Areas from Space 2018 - MUAS 2018.

The purpose of this conference is to provide scientists and data users with the opportunity to present first-hand and up-to-date results from their on-going research and application development activities by using data from past and current Satellites.

The Conference will be held at ESA - ESRIN (Frascati - Italy) from 30 to 31 October 2018.

The outcome of this conference will help to further shape the next generation of R&D activities in the frame of ESA Earth Observation Programmes.

Extended abstract submission deadline: 22 June 2018.

The 12th biennial conference of African Association of Remote Sensing and Environment (AARSE) will be held in Egypt, Alexandria, Arab Academy of Science and Technology, between 22 - 26 October 2018.

AARSE is the largest gathering community in remote sensing and geospatial information in Africa. The conference title is Earth Observations and Geospatial Science in service of Sustainable Development Goals.

The conference will gather expert, scientists, professionals from all over the globe to deliberate and present the up-to-date outcomes from remote sensing and geospatial information to achieve the global agenda for sustainable development 2030, particularly for Africa and developing countries.

Abstract submission deadline: 01 July 2018

International Conference on Space Optics (ICSO) 2018 is the 12th edition of the largest meeting worldwide of experts working in all disciplines of Optical, Optoelectronic and Photonic Technologies for Space Applications.

The purpose of ICSO is to bring together the Space Optics Community and exchange information and ideas on the research, development, qualification and flight experience of using optical technologies for space missions. Technology experts meet Mission experts to address the lessons learnt from past developments and identify the next significant developments in employing light-wave technologies and techniques used in all types of Space Missions.

The Conference will be held in Chania, Greece, from 09 - 12 October 2018.

Following on from the 15 Years and 20 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry Symposia in 2006 and 2012, both deemed very successful landmarks by the participants and the readership of the Proceedings, we have now reached the 25-year anniversary of the first supply of ERS-1 and TOPEX/Poseidon data products to the Altimetry Community.

To mark the occasion, the European Space Agency (ESA) in collaboration with the French Space Agency (CNES) is organising an exceptional Symposium on "25 years of Progress in Radar Altimetry". The event will take place in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island, Azores Archipelago (Portugal) from 24 to 29 September 2018, and will be sponsored by other partner agencies and organisations supporting the development of altimetry.

Along with the symposium, related events will take place in the same week which includes the annual meeting of the Ocean Surface Topography Science Team (OSTST) and the International DORIS Service (IDS) Workshop.

Registration deadline: 31 July 2018

Between the 24 - 26 September 2018, the Department of Geography, Ruhr-University of Bochum, Germany, are hosting a joint workshop of the Special Interest Groups:

• Urban Remote Sensing
• 3D Remote Sensing
• Developing Countries
• Radar Remote Sensing

Some of the topics that will be covered:

• Change detection techniques for urban areas
• Multitemporal analysis of urban areas
• Feature extraction strategies
• Extraction of urban areas
• Extraction of Buildings
• Mapping of road networks
• Urban heat island studies
• Data fusion for urban applications
• Modelling of urban growth
• Analysis of geohazards in urban areas