Thursday, September 19th, 2013
With the launch of ESA’s Swarm trio set for 14 November, the first satellite has arrived safely at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. This new mission will unravel one of the most mysterious aspects of our planet: the magnetic field. The arrival marks the beginning of the ‘launch campaign’, which includes an intensive period of
Monday, September 16th, 2013
Key presentations from the European Space Agency’s Living Planet Symposium were captured on video and are now available online.
Friday, September 13th, 2013
After more than four years mapping Earth’s gravity with unrivalled precision, GOCE’s mission is nearing its end and the satellite will soon reenter our atmosphere. The Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer – GOCE – has been orbiting Earth since March 2009 at the lowest altitude of any research satellite.
Friday, September 13th, 2013
ESA’s first Sentinel satellite dedicated to Europe’s Copernicus environmental monitoring programme is nearing completion in readiness for launch. The series of Sentinels and this ambitious programme were much in focus at the Living Planet Symposium this week.
Friday, September 13th, 2013
The Living Planet Symposium has come to a close in Edinburgh, and a week of talking about past, present and future satellite missions, as well as the scientific challenges facing us, has prepared Earth observation for a new chapter. Over 300 scientists attended two special sessions organised to discuss ESA’s plans to update the
Thursday, September 12th, 2013
While ESA’s SMOS satellite continues to provide key information on soil moisture and ocean salinity for a better understanding of the water cycle, Living Planet Symposium participants in Edinburgh today heard how the mission is also set to improve weather forecasts.
Wednesday, September 11th, 2013
Offering new insights into our fragile polar regions, ESA’s CryoSat mission has provided three consecutive years of Arctic sea-ice thickness measurements, which show that the ice continues to thin. Although satellites have witnessed a downward trend in the extent of sea ice over the last two decades, it is essential to have accurate information on
Tuesday, September 10th, 2013
With a catalogue of triumphs that range from delivering novel information about winds at the edge of the atmosphere to mapping the structure of Earth’s crust 200 km below our feet, ESA’s GOCE satellite is in the limelight at this week’s Living Planet Symposium. Carrying the first 3D gravity gradiometer in space and orbiting lower
Monday, September 9th, 2013
The largest Living Planet Symposium ever held has begun. Scientists and users are gathering in Edinburgh, UK, this week to present their latest satellite findings on Earth’s environment and climate based. With over 1800 participants, it is building on the symposia held in Bergen (2010), Montreux (2007) and Salzburg (2004).
Friday, September 6th, 2013
The amount of sunlight being absorbed or reflected by Earth is one of the driving forces for weather and climate. Satellites are providing this information with unprecedented accuracy. The reflecting power of a surface is known as ‘albedo’. Bright snow and ice have a high albedo, meaning they reflect solar radiation back into
