With the Copernicus environmental monitoring programme’s first satellite nearing launch, Portugal explores how best to exploit this initiative’s critical information.

With the first of the Sentinel satellites being readied for launch next spring, scientists are looking ahead to the third mission in the series to ensure the highest quality data possible.

A navigation system for self-driving vehicles that uses satellite radar data has won the top prize in the European Earth-monitoring competition.

With water security being one of Africa's biggest challenges, ESA's TIGER initiative is using satellite observations to provide local authorities with the information they need to develop this vital resource.

The international body representing the oil and gas industry is promoting the use of satellite Earth observation as the industry explores new frontiers. The upcoming Sentinel suite of satellites will facilitate these new endeavours.

Remote sensing applications benefit from the use of data fusion approaches based on spectral unmixing, which have proven their value for delivering spectrally consistent fused images while reducing the mixed pixel problem. In this study the scientists propose a multi-temporal setting of the algorithm that is applied to full MERIS and Landsat TM time series. The final goal is to complete or fill gaps in the Landsat time series by using MERIS data with more frequent coverage. Hence obtaining consistent time series at high spatial resolution and with the enhanced spectral properties of MERIS.

Satellites see defined lines of nomadic pastoralism in one of the world's poorest countries.

A new data processor is creating maps of land deformation from satellite radar data over larger areas and with higher precision than ever before. These maps can be used to detect and monitor geological hazards.

In May 2012, two earthquakes struck Italy's Emilia-Romagna region, claiming at least 27 lives and causing widespread damage. Through GMES, damage assessment maps derived from satellite data were promptly produced to assist emergency response activities.

The potential of GMES for crisis management and environmental monitoring is highlighted in a new publication with users demonstrating the importance of Earth observation data to European regions.