Friday, February 7th, 2014
Satellite observations of global sea-surface temperature show that a 30-year upward trend has slowed down within the last 15 years. Climate scientists say this is not the end of global warming, but the result of a rearrangement in the energy flow of the climate system and, in particular, how the ocean stores heat.
Thursday, February 6th, 2014
Some tricky manoeuvres are now under way to steer ESA’s trio of Swarm satellites into their respective orbits so that they can start delivering the best-ever survey of our magnetic field. Since the Swarm constellation was launched last November, engineers have been busy putting the satellites through their paces to make sure that the craft
Monday, February 3rd, 2014
The 2014 World Wetlands Day highlights the need for wetlands and the agriculture sector to work together. ESA’s GlobWetland II project assists Mediterranean countries in the sustainable use of these areas and demonstrates the evolution of wetlands and agricultural patterns over time.
Monday, February 3rd, 2014
Ice in northern Alaska’s lakes during winter months is on the decline. Twenty years of satellite radar imagery show how changes in our climate are affecting high-latitude environments. Changes in air temperature and winter precipitation over the last five decades have affected the timing, duration and thickness of the ice cover on lakes in the
Sunday, January 26th, 2014
With the Copernicus environmental monitoring programme’s first satellite nearing launch, Portugal explores how best to exploit this initiative’s critical information. In order to stimulate the use of satellite-derived data within public administration, Portugal has created the Working Group for Earth Observation (GTOT). The group’s main focus is on information from Copernicus, including data from the
Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014
As global temperatures gradually increase, more water is expected to evaporate into the atmosphere. But using satellite data, scientists have discovered that El Niño-induced droughts have caused global declines in evapotranspiration despite rising temperatures. Terrestrial evaporation, or evapotranspiration, is the transfer of water from soil and vegetation into the atmosphere. It’s a critical component of
Tuesday, January 21st, 2014
Aiming for launch at the end of March, the first satellite built specifically for Europe’s ambitious Copernicus environmental monitoring programme is now in the last stages of testing before being shipped to French Guiana for liftoff. Rising to the challenges of global change and the need to manage the environment more effectively, Copernicus offers
Tuesday, January 21st, 2014
Near the centre of Antarctica, measurements from CryoSat show an unusual pattern in the ice sheet’s elevation. Scientists have now found the reason for this pattern – and the discovery is leading to even more accurate measurements from ESA’s ice mission.
Monday, January 13th, 2014
The cruise ship Costa Concordia with more than 4,200 passengers and crew on board hit a rocky outcrop and ran aground off the coast of Isola del Giglio in Italy in January 2012, leading to the loss of 32 lives. Nearly two years later, in September 2013, the salvage project started with parbuckling the wreck.
Monday, January 13th, 2014
Like thermometers in the sky, satellite instruments can measure the temperatures of Earth’s surfaces. ESA’s new GlobTemperature project is merging these data from a variety of spaceborne sensors to provide scientists with a one-stop shop for land, lake and ice temperature data.
