Andrew Yee[_1_]
August 12th 08, 05:11 PM
ESA News
http://www.esa.int
31 July 2008
ESA meets increasing demand for Earth observation data
Earth observation satellite data have never been in more demand than today
as missions have demonstrated their ability to enable better understanding
and improved management of the Earth and its environment.
ESA is meeting this demand by providing additional data, serving large
science programmes, enlarging network stations and making more data
available in near-real time.
Responding to calls from ESA's Principal Investigators (PI), the agency has
released some 20 Announcement of Opportunity (AO) calls over the last decade
that allow access to Earth observation (EO) data from ESA's ERS-1, ERS-2,
Envisat, Earth Explorers and Third Party Missions.
As a result, more than 1500 scientific projects for research and
applications development have been accepted and are receiving data free of
charge.
These projects, called Category-1 projects, focus on research and
applications development use in support of mission objectives, including
research on long-term issues of Earth system science.
Under ESA's new Data Policy implemented in 2000, PI project proposals are
now also accepted on a daily basis and not only in response to an AO.
Consequently, some 1300 additional PI-proposed Category-1 projects have been
accepted and are also receiving data with small cost of re-production for
data not available online.
Since 2007 ESA sped up its access to data available online for Category-1
use by offering a simplified registration procedure to researchers. To date
more than 300 users have been authorised to retrieve such data.
Serving large Science Programmes
ESA data also serves very large science programmes, such as the
International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 which focuses on the Arctic and
Antarctic.
ESA committed to helping scientists collect satellite information,
particularly to understand recent and current distributions and variations
in snow and ice, during IPY. To this end, ESA issued a dedicated AO in 2006
and by spring 2007 48 selected projects had begun receiving data free of
charge.
ESA is also making its legacy data available through an extensive EO data
portfolio containing current and historical data, dating back 17 years for
ERS data and 30 years for some Third Party Mission data. Another large
science programme being served is ESA's GlobColour project, which supports
ocean carbon cycle research.
GlobColour has merged 55 terabytes of data from three state-of-the-art
instruments aboard different satellites, including MERIS aboard ESA's
Envisat, MODIS aboard NASA's Aqua and SeaWiFS aboard GeoEye's Orbview-2, to
produce a 10-year dataset of global ocean colour stretching to 2007.
Near-real time data delivery
Responding to user demand for services, ESA is generating and delivering
some 250 Gigabytes of data products in near-real time to Envisat users.
Moreover the power of computers and the growth in network bandwidths and
storage capacities have resulted in users requesting larger volumes of data
to be delivered in unprecedented timeframes.
ESA also upgraded its data delivery method to the quicker Data Dissemination
System (DDS), which allows users in remote areas to receive near-real time
satellite data via a simple satellite dish connection to personal computers.
Expanding receiving stations
As the request for EO data increased, ESA has had to find strategic
solutions for transmitting large amounts of data from its satellites to
ground stations.
The original four stations supporting the first ERS mission have been
gradually expanded. The ground station in Johannesburg is the latest station
to be added.
Scientific exchange
To stimulate a live exchange of experiences and knowledge between
researchers, ESA organises dedicated thematic workshops and symposia every
year. During these gatherings, ESA collects user feedback and
recommendations for new products, new initiatives and input for improved
scientific exploitation of the missions.
The thematic workshop proceedings are available as ESA Special Publications
and can be searched here:
http://earth.esa.int/resources/workshops/
Every three years, ESA also organises and hosts major multidisciplinary
events, such as the 2007 ERS and Envisat Symposia held in Montreux,
Switzerland, in which some 1000 EO users attended.
These symposia allow scientists and researchers from around the world to
present and review results of ongoing projects using data from ESA's
Envisat, ERS and Third Party Mission satellites.
[NOTE: Images and weblinks supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM7FIXIPIF_index_1.html ]
http://www.esa.int
31 July 2008
ESA meets increasing demand for Earth observation data
Earth observation satellite data have never been in more demand than today
as missions have demonstrated their ability to enable better understanding
and improved management of the Earth and its environment.
ESA is meeting this demand by providing additional data, serving large
science programmes, enlarging network stations and making more data
available in near-real time.
Responding to calls from ESA's Principal Investigators (PI), the agency has
released some 20 Announcement of Opportunity (AO) calls over the last decade
that allow access to Earth observation (EO) data from ESA's ERS-1, ERS-2,
Envisat, Earth Explorers and Third Party Missions.
As a result, more than 1500 scientific projects for research and
applications development have been accepted and are receiving data free of
charge.
These projects, called Category-1 projects, focus on research and
applications development use in support of mission objectives, including
research on long-term issues of Earth system science.
Under ESA's new Data Policy implemented in 2000, PI project proposals are
now also accepted on a daily basis and not only in response to an AO.
Consequently, some 1300 additional PI-proposed Category-1 projects have been
accepted and are also receiving data with small cost of re-production for
data not available online.
Since 2007 ESA sped up its access to data available online for Category-1
use by offering a simplified registration procedure to researchers. To date
more than 300 users have been authorised to retrieve such data.
Serving large Science Programmes
ESA data also serves very large science programmes, such as the
International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 which focuses on the Arctic and
Antarctic.
ESA committed to helping scientists collect satellite information,
particularly to understand recent and current distributions and variations
in snow and ice, during IPY. To this end, ESA issued a dedicated AO in 2006
and by spring 2007 48 selected projects had begun receiving data free of
charge.
ESA is also making its legacy data available through an extensive EO data
portfolio containing current and historical data, dating back 17 years for
ERS data and 30 years for some Third Party Mission data. Another large
science programme being served is ESA's GlobColour project, which supports
ocean carbon cycle research.
GlobColour has merged 55 terabytes of data from three state-of-the-art
instruments aboard different satellites, including MERIS aboard ESA's
Envisat, MODIS aboard NASA's Aqua and SeaWiFS aboard GeoEye's Orbview-2, to
produce a 10-year dataset of global ocean colour stretching to 2007.
Near-real time data delivery
Responding to user demand for services, ESA is generating and delivering
some 250 Gigabytes of data products in near-real time to Envisat users.
Moreover the power of computers and the growth in network bandwidths and
storage capacities have resulted in users requesting larger volumes of data
to be delivered in unprecedented timeframes.
ESA also upgraded its data delivery method to the quicker Data Dissemination
System (DDS), which allows users in remote areas to receive near-real time
satellite data via a simple satellite dish connection to personal computers.
Expanding receiving stations
As the request for EO data increased, ESA has had to find strategic
solutions for transmitting large amounts of data from its satellites to
ground stations.
The original four stations supporting the first ERS mission have been
gradually expanded. The ground station in Johannesburg is the latest station
to be added.
Scientific exchange
To stimulate a live exchange of experiences and knowledge between
researchers, ESA organises dedicated thematic workshops and symposia every
year. During these gatherings, ESA collects user feedback and
recommendations for new products, new initiatives and input for improved
scientific exploitation of the missions.
The thematic workshop proceedings are available as ESA Special Publications
and can be searched here:
http://earth.esa.int/resources/workshops/
Every three years, ESA also organises and hosts major multidisciplinary
events, such as the 2007 ERS and Envisat Symposia held in Montreux,
Switzerland, in which some 1000 EO users attended.
These symposia allow scientists and researchers from around the world to
present and review results of ongoing projects using data from ESA's
Envisat, ERS and Third Party Mission satellites.
[NOTE: Images and weblinks supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM7FIXIPIF_index_1.html ]