It was five years ago this month that ESA's GOCE gravity-mapping satellite finally gave way to gravity, but its results are still yielding buried treasure – giving a new view of the remnants of lost continents hidden deep under the ice sheet of Antarctica.

A team of researchers, supported under ESA's Basic Activities, has recently investigated a resourceful new method of monitoring space weather. They utilised the data from the Swarm and GOCE Earth Explorer missions, and from LISA Pathfinder to investigate whether platform magnetometer data could also be used for space weather diagnostics.

Parts of Earth's crust are rising very slowly owing to post-glacial rebound, but using GPS, researchers have found that West Antarctica is rising faster than almost anywhere else in the world. And, ESA's GOCE gravity mission has, in turn, helped them to understand that the mantle below is unusually fluid.

All GOCE L1 and L2 data are now freely available via the GOCE Virtual Archive (http://eo-virtual-archive1.esa.int/Index.html) without the need of prior registration. This applies also to users that previously have registered and obtained access credentials.

ESA has started a process to improve the Earth Observation data distribution services, aiming at facilitating access to data and information for the end users, initially by shortening the access path and reviewing authentication and authorisation processes.

The level 1 data of the redundant GOCE GPS receiver have been made available on the GOCE Virtual Online Archive. The data set contains the RINEX data and the SST nominal L1b products and covers the de-orbiting period.

ESA is offering over 100 opportunities for industry, start-ups and scientific institutions to develop innovative ideas that bring Earth observation science closer to society.

The release 5 of the GOCE space wise grids at ground level and at satellite height have been made available on the GOCE Virtual Online Archive. The updated grids can be accessed via the archive under 'GOCE Gravity Models'.

The detailed programme for the Fourth Swarm Science Meeting and the Geodetic Missions Workshop can now be consulted online.

The Fourth Swarm Science Meeting and the accompanying Geodetic Missions Workshop are organised at the Park Lodge Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada from 20 to 24 March 2017. This is a reminder for all users interested in participating to the event that the deadline for abstract submission - 04 December 2016 - is approaching fast.