Envisat enables first global check of regional methane emissions
The SCIAMACHY sensor aboard Envisat has performed the first space-based measurements of the global distribution of near-surface methane, one of the most important greenhouse gases. As reported in Thursday's issue of Science Express, the results show larger than expected emissions across tropical land regions....... The report concerns work carried out by the Institute of Environmental Physics (IU...Global air pollution map produced by Envisat's SCIAMACHY
ESA's ten-instrument Envisat, the world's largest satellite for environmental monitoring, was launched in February 2002. Its onboard Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY) instrument records the spectrum of sunlight shining through the atmosphere. These results are then finely sifted to find spectral absorption 'fingerprints' of trace gases in the air. ....Envisat Symposium report day 4: Assistance from space to combat hazards and natural disasters
When is a flood not a flood? For the duration of the International Humanitarian Partnership's Triplex 2004 exercise, taking place in Norway this week, humanitarian aid groups are taking part in a scenario where the country's southern Lake Mjǿsa is in fact a flood zone in the imaginary country of 'Innlandia', inundated by a combination of heavy rainfall and a neglected dam that has given way....Envisat Symposium report day 3: Satellites supporting Kyoto - our future is in our forests
Under discussion during Wednesday's Envisat Symposium is how researchers use this ability to peer further through time, addressing the leading scientific question of our time the likely extent of climate change. ...Human activities have been changing the chemical composition of the atmosphere, leading to an increased retaining of heat popularly termed the 'Greenhouse Effect'. ...... Successfully...Envisat Symposium report day 2: GMES turns science to services
Simply in terms of its ambition, the joint ESA and European Commission (EC) initiative known as Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) might sound like the stuff of science fiction. However, as Envisat symposium participants learned at a special session on Tuesday, the first elements of GMES are already a reality, and providing operational services to users worldwide. ..."Humanitar...Envisat Symposium day one: Steady symphony of Europe's largest satellite
The ten instruments aboard ESA's 8.2-tonne Earth Observation satellite generate a steady 140 Gigabytes worth of processed data per day, in the form of 77 separate data products concerning the state of our world's land, oceans, ice and atmosphere. ...This week's Envisat Symposium in Salzburg, Austria, is a chance for users of those products scientific researchers and value-adding service provide...Taking apart a hurricane: Multi-sensor Envisat sees through Frances
As its 235-km-per-hour winds passed the Bahamas, Frances was heading for landfall on the Florida coast some time on Saturday, and three quarters of a million Americans are in the process of evacuating their homes. To wait and watch for Frances might be suicidal for human beings, but space-based observers such as Envisat observe its passage without danger. ..."Because of Envisat's multi-sensor cap...Envisat witnesses return of the South Polar ozone hole
"Ever since this phenomenon was first discovered in the mid-1980s, satellites have served as an important means of monitoring it," explained Jos Achache, ESA Director of Earth Observation Programmes. "ESA satellites have been routinely observing stratospheric ozone concentrations for the last decade. ...... "And because Envisat's observations are assimilated into atmospheric models, they actually...Scientists meet to review Envisat results after two and a half years of operations
The main objective of the Symposium is to provide a forum for investigators to present results of ongoing research project activities and to review and assess the development of applications and services. Scientists and operational users of Envisat data working in the framework of international, ESA and national projects will present preliminary results from the Envisat mission and also the scien...Envisat's rainbow vision detects ground moving at pace fingernails grow
Radar data from satellites such as ESA's Envisat are used to construct 'interferograms' that show millimetre-scale land movements. These rainbow-hued images provide scientists with new insights into tectonic motion, and an enhanced ability to calculate hazards arising when this slow motion speeds up, in the form of earthquakes or volcanic activity. ......The ten-instrument payload on Envisat inc...The passengers of Russian icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov experienced a little under two minutes of totality around 2340 CEST (2240 UTC) on Sunday 23 November, as the shadow of the Moon blocked out the Sun across eastern Antarctica. Local penguins are accustomed to near-permanent daylight during the south polar summer but they are not reported to have become upset. ... ...A project called Antarctic...Up in the stratosphere about 25 km above our heads is the ozone layer. Stratospheric ozone absorbs up to 98% of the Sun's harmful ultraviolet light making the difference between a suntan and sunburn, and safeguarding all life on Earth. But chemical activity in the stratosphere ultimately due to the presence of manmade gases such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) can thin the ozone layer. ...The Bru...