A study, recently published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin, shows that it’s possible to safeguard 30 % of the Atlantic Ocean’s high‑seas biodiversity, without severely disrupting fishing or shipping routes, by harnessing satellite data to define “seascapes” and redirect marine traffic. Using bio‑optical information from ESA’s Envisat, Copernicus Sentinel‑3, alongside NASA’s Aqua, OrbView‑2 and NOAA‑20 satellites, …
It’s a great time to work in Earth Observation, with an unprecedented number of missions acquiring high-quality, freely accessible data. These are complemented by a whole ecosystem of analytic tools and software. The ESA Earth Observation Program (EOP) supports EO downstream industry in developing novel applications, and numerous innovative results are generated every year in …
The Big Data from Space 2025 (BiDS’25) event is the next milestone in a series of conferences (dating back to 2016) that bring together the global community to explore the transformative potential of space-derived big data and emerging technologies. Building on the success of previous editions, BiDS’25 will continue to foster collaboration, innovation, and knowledge-sharing …
Landslides across the Alps have major socio-economic impacts and represent a significant risk for the population, properties and infrastructures as well as a serious hindrance in the development of mountainous regions. Landslides are diverse in form and mechanism, ranging from rockfalls and debris flows to deep-seated rock instabilities and shallow rotational soil slides. Those shallow …
In the global context of climate change mitigation, carbon markets are seen as one of the tools to incentivise greenhouse gases emissions reduction and carbon sequestration (cf. Article 6 of Paris Agreement or IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report). This activity aims to leverage the latest advances in Earth Observation (EO) data and methodologies to support and …
The ability to accurately characterize either fixed objects or moving targets is a critical need for security, defence and intelligence purposes. Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems are revolutionizing this domain, and advancements in Inverse SAR (ISAR) techniques offer unprecedented improvements in moving target identification and analysis. Current EO systems can provide very high-resolution (VHR) …
Under the theme Our Land Our Future, the 16th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP16) took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 2 to 13 December 2024, attracting more than 24,000 registered participants. The COP is the main decision-making body of UNCCD’s 197 Parties – 196 countries and …
The European Space Agency has contributed also this year’s UNFCCC COP29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, held from November 11 to 22, 2024. As global leaders, scientists, and advocates gathered to negotiate and advance climate action, ESA underscored the importance of Earth observation (EO) data in understanding and addressing climate challenges. ESA’s delegation of Earth Observation, …
In mountainous regions such as the Alps, snow cover plays a crucial role in the hydrological cycle. Precipitation in these areas in winter, particularly above 1,000 metres altitude, remains stored as a snowpack until the spring melt season, when water is released back into rivers and reservoirs. This seasonal water reserve is critical for water …
The Space for Shore project has revealed trends in Arctic glacier retreat and calving intensity, with notable impacts observed in regions like Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. Using over 1,000 radar images from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission, scientists monitored the evolution of Svalbard’s coastal glaciers between 2015 and 2023. The study highlights a statistically defined mapping of summer …
