Ocean colour and carbon from space - some recent activities - Prof. Steve Groom
2024-06-28 10:00 - 12:00 (Europe/Rome)
Professor Steve Groom has over 35 years’ experience in satellite and aircraft remote sensing with special interest in ocean colour, coccolithophores, inland waters and near-real time, operational environmental monitoring. Also interested in use of EO data notably in the developing world. Steve is Head of Science for Earth Observation Science, the largest science area at PML with over 30 tenured staff.

The presentation “Ocean colour and carbon from space – some recent activities” will take place online.

Prof. Steve Groom https://www.pml.ac.uk/People/Steve-Groom

Medcyclone Workshop: Training School
2024-07-15 08:00 - 2024-07-19 18:30 | ESRIN Science Hub, Via Galileo Galilei, 1, Frascati, RM, 00044, Italy
Part of the Medcyclone Workshop programme, the Science Hub will host a Training School which is primarily addressed to PhD students, PostDocs, early career investigators, as well as professionals and scientists from regional and national meteorological agencies.

The training school will cover several aspects of Mediterranean cyclones: dynamics, processes, forecasting, predictability, and impacts at both weather and climate time scales.

Read more on the event website: https://nikal.eventsair.com/medcyclone-workshop-2024/training-school

Science Hub contact person: Elody Fluck

3rd MedCyclones Workshop & Training School

Final presentation by Tim Trent
2024-07-24 10:00 - 11:00 | ESRIN Science Hub, Via Galileo Galilei, 1, Frascati, RM, 00044, Italy
Visiting Living Planet Fellow Tim Trent will make a presentation of the research he carried out during his stay at the ESRIN Science Hub in 2024.

Tim is currently a research fellow working within the National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO) based at the University of Leicester. In addition to his research role, he also co-chairs the international GEWEX Water Vapour Assessment (G-VAP) working group. Output from this group features in the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

To date, most of his research focuses on the moisture in our atmosphere, but he also has experience working with surface temperatures, aerosol, trace gases and night-time light data. Before receiving his fellowship from the European Space Agency (ESA), he worked on many projects revolving around satellite remote sensing to the Earth’s surface and atmosphere over decadal time scales.

WATER CYCLE CHANGES CHARACTERISED FROM ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE RECYCLING (WEATHER)

Science Talk: Giulia Roccetti
2024-09-02 10:15 - 11:15 | ESRIN Science Hub, Via Galileo Galilei, 1, Frascati, RM, 00044, Italy
Giulia Roccetti is a PhD student at the Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munch and the European South Observatory. Her presentation at the Science Hub will address one of the topics of her PhD.

https://giulia-roccetti.github.io

Probing cloud and surface properties in disk-integrated Earth’s observations

Abstract:

Earthshine, which is the sunlight reflected by the Earth onto the Moon, allows for the acquisition of disk-integrated properties of the illuminated side of the Earth in a single snapshot. To simulate these observations, we perform realistic 3D radiative transfer simulations with MYSTIC, incorporating the full complexity and variability of the planet. To this end, we developed the first hyperspectral albedo maps dataset for Earth (HAMSTER), which includes the spatial and temporal variability of surface features as a function of wavelength. Additionally, we developed a 3D cloud generator approach to accurately represent patchy clouds based on the ERA5 reanalysis product. Only by including detailed cloud and surface modeling were we able to match the observations, suggesting that the radiative response of clouds and an accurate surface albedo representation are crucial for a comprehensive interpretation of Earth’s observations. This treatment of cloud and surface properties may have many applications in Earth’s remote sensing and Earth System Models.

Presentation slides

Improving the reconstruction of upper ocean dynamics from space
2024-09-13 16:00 - 17:00 | ESRIN Science Hub, Via Galileo Galilei, 1, Frascati, RM, 00044, Italy
Final presentation of research fellow Florian Le Guillou.

Abstract:

The use of satellite data has revolutionized the study of upper ocean dynamics, offering global, continuous, and real-time information about various physical processes at the ocean’s surface. These data provide key insights into ocean circulation, temperature distribution, wave patterns, and other dynamic factors. For instance, Sea Surface Height (SSH), observed by altimetry, is a key variable for monitoring ocean circulation. Similarly, Sea Surface Temperature (SST) serves as a crucial indicator of heat exchange between the ocean and atmosphere.

Typically, scientific, and operational applications require gap-free, gridded satellite data (L4 products). However, operational algorithms often depend on basic interpolation techniques applied to L3 satellite data, which tend to filter out fine-scale processes. In this presentation, I will introduce a hybrid methodology which combines minimal physically based constraints with a variational scheme to enhance the mapping capabilities of upper ocean dynamics. By synthesizing multi-modal satellite observations, the method improves the accuracy and resolution of SSH and SST maps in comparison to operational products. Applications of the method will be discussed, including the reconstruction of 3D dynamics from surface data, the refinement of SSH climate records, and the estimation of air-sea fluxes.

Science Talk: Dr Luis Guanter
2024-09-24 10:00 - 11:00 | ESRIN Science Hub, Via Galileo Galilei, 1, Frascati, RM, 00044, Italy
The MethaneSAT mission for the detection and quantification of anthropogenic methane emissions: overview and first results

Abstract:

Mitigating anthropogenic methane emissions is vital for reducing the rate of global warming. Under the scientific lead of the Environmental Defense Fund and Harvard University, the MethaneSAT satellite mission is designed to detect and quantify anthropogenic methane emissions around the world, in order to help mitigate emissions and develop global policy-relevant emission database efforts such as the International Methane Emissions Observatory.

MethaneSAT was launched on 4 March 2024 and has recently completed its commissioning phase. The instrument consists of two spectrometers, one covering the 1249-1305 nm window sampling oxygen absorption, and one covering 1598-1683 nm for methane and CO2 retrievals, with <0.1 nm spectral sampling and <0.3 nm spectral resolution, which will enable methane concentration maps with high accuracy and precision. The mission will sample up to 25 sites per day, with a swath width of about 220 km and a spatial sampling of about 110 m x 400 m. These capabilities uniquely allow MethaneSAT to quantify total regional methane emissions, at the same time detect high-emitting point sources and characterize diffuse area sources. This measurement approach is being tested and consolidated through a series of flight campaigns across U.S. oil and gas basins with the MethaneAIR instrument, MethaneSAT’s airborne demostrator.

MethaneSAT will provide quantitative data products on methane emission rates focusing on the majority of worldwide oil and gas production, with additional capacity to measure emissions from other sectors including agriculture. Operational data products related to methane emissions will be made freely available in the public domain via MethaneSAT’s data platform and the Google Cloud.

Speaker Bio:

Dr Luis Guanter – Environmental Defence Fund

Luis Guanter obtained his degree in Physics in 2002 and his Ph.D. in Environmental Physics in 2007, both from the Universitat de València (Spain). After several postdoctoral positions in Germany and UK, he became Head of the Remote Sensing Section of the GFZ Potsdam in Germany and the Principal Investigator of the satellite imaging spectroscopy mission in 2014. Since March 2019 he is a Full Professor in Applied Physics at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) in Spain, where he is leading the LARS (Land and Atmosphere Remote Sensing) group in January 2020. Since March 2022 Luis Guanter is sharing his position at UPV with a methane remote sensing scientist position at the Environmental Defense Fund. Luis Guanter has been included in Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers List of the world’s most influential scientists since 2019.

https://luiguapa.webs.upv.es/

Grounding Lagrangian particles in satellite-derived oceanic flow fields
2024-10-30 08:00 - 2024-10-31 17:00 | ESRIN Science Hub, Via Galileo Galilei, 1, Frascati, RM, 00044, Italy
2-day workshop on “Grounding Lagrangian particles in satellite-derived oceanic flow fields” workshop at the Science Hub, in the frame of the 4DMED project scientific visit.

4DMED Project

Collaborative Writing Workshop
2024-11-04 08:00 - 2024-11-06 17:00 | ESRIN Science Hub, Via Galileo Galilei, 1, Frascati, RM, 00044, Italy
A 3-day “Collaborative Writing” workshop, to be held @ESA Science Hub to work collaboratively (6 persons – Visiting Scientists) at the ESA Science hub and draft the article based on the content presented during the 2-d workshop.

This visit is organised as part of the 4DMED Project.

The Hub Talks: Advancing atmospheric composition monitoring for Sentinel-5
2025-02-27 15:00 - 16:00 | ESRIN Science Hub, Via Galileo Galilei, 1, Frascati, RM, 00044, Italy
Title: Advanced combined retrieval of aerosol, green-house gases and surface properties with GRASP algorithm. Application to Multiangular polarimeters and SWIR spectrometers.

Abstract:One of the primary challenges in achieving the necessary precision in satellite retrievals of XCO2 and XCH4 is accurately characterizing atmospheric aerosols. Multiangular-Polarimetric measurements (MAP) represent the most advanced approach for understanding aerosol properties from space-borne platforms. Conversely, the optimal sensitivity to CO2 and CH4 concentrations, while minimizing scattering effects, is typically found within the SWIR-1 and SWIR-2 spectral bands. As a result, upcoming Copernicus missions such as Sentinel-7 CO2M or MetOp-SG Sentinel-5 with 3MI onboard are equipped with both MAP and SWIR spectrometric measurements. The Generalized Retrieval of Atmosphere and Surface Properties (GRASP) is a recently developed versatile algorithm designed for various remote sensing observations (Dubovik et al., 2021). GRASP relies on comprehensive and rigorous modeling of atmospheric radiation, applicable to simulating a wide range of observations. Its numerical inversion is executed through highly statistically optimized fitting, following the Multi-Term Least Square minimization concept. Originally applied to MAP-like measurements in various applications (POLDER, 3MI, CO2M/MAP), the GRASP approach has now been extended to combine MAP and SWIR spectrometric measurements, offering a synergistic combined product of aerosol properties alongside additional information on columnar XCO2 and XCH4 (Li et al., 2019; Chen et al., 2020).  The GRASP algorithm is set to be employed with two different combinations of MAP and SWIR spectrometer instruments: CO2M/MAP+CO2M/CO2I (Lu et al., 2022) and 3MI+S5/UVNS. Theinherent generality and high flexibility of the GRASP code will demonstrate the advantages of incorporating MAP measurements for improved XCO2 and XCH4 accuracy compared to standalone spectrometers. Additionally, it will highlight the benefits of combining additional spectrometric bands around the O2 A-Band to enhance aerosol layer height characterization (Herreras-Giralda et al., 2022).

Speaker: Dr. Marcos Herreras Giralda is a scientific officer at GRASP SAS, he has participated in several projects focused on the remote characterization of all the elements of the climate system: aerosols, gases and surface. Furthermore, some of them, such as DIVA III (ESA), involve the connection of different satellite products, models and ground based reference for its validation and the creation of joint products. Dr. Herreras works in thedevelopment of different new applications of GRASP from different sensors (from UV to thermal infrared) and platforms (ground-based and space-borne) to retrieve optical and microphysical properties of aerosol, gases and surface. One of main tasks is the coordination of all the parallel developments in the code and the organization of therealisations of the new versions of GRASP.

The Hub Talks: Advanced combined retrieval of aerosol, green-house gases and surface properties with GRASP algorithm. Application to Multiangular polarimeters and SWIR spectrometers. The Hub Talks:
2025-02-27 15:00 - 16:00
Speaker: Dr. Marcos Herreras Giralda is a scientific officer at GRASP SAS, he has participated in several projects focused on the remote characterization of all the elements of the climate system: aerosols, gases and surface. Furthermore, some of them, as DIVA III (ESA), involve the connection of different satellite products, models and ground based reference for its validation and the creation of joint products. Dr. Herreras works in thedevelopment of different new applications of GRASP from different sensors (from UV to thermal infrared) and platforms (ground-based and space-borne) to retrieve optical and microphysical properties of aerosol, gases and surface. One of main tasks is the coordination of all the parallel developments in the code and the organization of therealisations of the new versions of GRASP.

Abstract: One of the primary challenges in achieving the necessary precision in satellite retrievals of XCO2 and XCH4 is accurately characterizing atmospheric aerosols. Multiangular-Polarimetric measurements (MAP) represent the most advanced approach for understanding aerosol properties from space-borne platforms. Conversely, the optimal sensitivity to CO2 and CH4 concentrations, while minimizing scattering effects, is typically found within the SWIR-1 and SWIR-2 spectral bands. As a result, upcoming Copernicus missions such as Sentinel-7 CO2M or MetOp-SG Sentinel-5 with 3MI onboard are equipped with both MAP and SWIR spectrometric measurements.

The Generalized Retrieval of Atmosphere and Surface Properties (GRASP) is a recently developed versatile algorithm designed for various remote sensing observations (Dubovik et al., 2021). GRASP relies on comprehensive and rigorous modeling of atmospheric radiation, applicable to simulating a wide range of observations. Its numerical inversion is executed through highly statistically optimized fitting, following the Multi-Term Least Square minimization concept. Originally applied to MAP-like measurements in various applications (POLDER, 3MI, CO2M/MAP), the GRASP approach has now been extended to combine MAP and SWIR spectrometric measurements, offering a synergistic combined product of aerosol properties alongside additional information on columnar XCO2 and XCH4 (Li et al., 2019; Chen et al., 2020).

The GRASP algorithm is set to be employed with two different combinations of MAP and SWIR spectrometer instruments: CO2M/MAP+CO2M/CO2I (Lu et al., 2022) and 3MI+S5/UVNS. Theinherent generality and high flexibility of the GRASP code will demonstrate the advantages of incorporating MAP measurements for improved XCO2 and XCH4 accuracy compared to standalone spectrometers. Additionally, it will highlight the benefits of combining additional spectrometric bands around the O2 A-Band to enhance aerosol layer height characterization (Herreras-Giralda et al., 2022).

Data-driven climate and EO applications for extreme heat on land and the ocean
2025-03-19 00:00 - 23:59 | ESRIN Science Hub, Via Galileo Galilei, 1, Frascati, RM, 00044, Italy
Speaker: Ana Oliveira, Colab&Atlantic, Portugal

As climate change pushes our planet beyond familiar conditions, heatwaves—both on land and in the ocean—become striking indicators of how underlying climate trends translate into extreme temperatures. Former architect and urban planner Ana will explore how these changes present an opportunity to bring climate science and Earth observation closer to our daily lives. She will provide an overview of current research on marine and atmospheric heatwaves, highlighting how data-driven methods, integrating in-situ and EO (Earth Observation) data, can be leveraged to develop practical, multi-scale applications for society

ESA and CNR-ISMAR inaugurate the advanced Mediterranean Lab
2025-04-07 00:00 - 23:59 | ESRIN Science Hub, Via Galileo Galilei, 1, Frascati, RM, 00044, Italy
A major step forward in Mediterranean Sea research was taken last week, on April 7th, with the inauguration of the advanced Mediterranean open science Data Analysis Lab (MeDAL) at ESA’s ESRIN Science Hub. The launch of the new initiative was formalised through the signature of a Memorandum of Intent by Simonetta Cheli, Director of ESA Earth Observation Programmes, and Mario Sprovieri, Director of the Institute of Marine Science of the Italian National Research Council (CNR-ISMAR).

“This is a fantastic opportunity to reinforce our Science Hub as a centre of excellence for Earth system science and a catalyst for strategic collaborations with national institutions” said Cheli during the signing ceremony. “The Mediterranean is one of our key thematic priorities due to its vulnerability to hydroclimatic extremes, increasing human pressure in coastal areas, and its importance for a sustainable development in the region.”

for more details, visit 👉ESA Science Hub

The Hub Talks: Mapping the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of marine plastic litter: The need for measuring ocean surface currents
2025-05-29 15:00 - 16:00
Speaker: Erik van Sebille is a professor of oceanography and public engagement at Utrecht University, where he also received his PhD in 2009. He has worked at the University of Miami, the University of New South Wales in Sydney, and Imperial College in London. Erik investigates how ocean currents move ‘stuff’ around. He is the lead developer of the open-source OceanParcels.org code for Lagrangian Ocean Analysis. He is co-author of the textbook ‘Ocean Currents – Physical Drivers in a Changing World’ with Professor Robert Marsh. He led the European Research Council Starting Grant project ‘Tracking Of Plastics in Our Seas’ and is now leading the project ‘Tracing Marine Macroplastics by Unraveling the Ocean’s Multiscale Transport Processes’. In parallel to his ongoing work in physical oceanography, he leads a research team on how scientists can be effective and inclusive in their communication and engagement with society, specifically on the climate crisis.

Abstract: The world’s ocean currents can transport floating material like plastic and plankton over very large distances. Understanding how the transport varies over time and space requires fine-resolution observations of the surface currents. Most Earth Observation techniques in operation now measure the large-scale geostrophic flow field, but miss the direct effects of winds and waves on the transport of floating material. In this seminar, I will make the case why accurate and near-real-time measurements of ocean surface currents is important for understanding the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of the plastic soup and the formation of hotspots of high plastic concentrations.

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The Hub Talks: Observing the Earth (water and) energy cycle from space to understand climate change
2025-06-12 14:30 - 15:30
Speaker: Dr. Meyssignac is a researcher at the Laboratoire d’Etudes en Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiale (LEGOS) and at the French Space National Center (CNES) in Toulouse, France. His research focuses on understanding the variations of the global Earth energy-water cycle at regional and global scales through high precision geodetic satellite observations and modelling approaches. He investigates processes leading to changes in the Earth energy budget, theEarth energy imbalance and the response of the energy-water cycle fluxes to greenhouse gases emissions. He is the author of more than 70 research articles and a lead author of the last IPCC report. He was awarded for his work the Christian Le Provost prize from the French national science academy in 2017 and theEGU/ESA Earth observation excellence award in 2021. He is active in the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) as a leader of the Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) Earth Energy Imbalance assessment and the Earth Energy imbalance trend case of the WCRP lighthouse activity on explaining and predicting Earth system change.

Abstract: At decadal and longer time scales, the Earth’s global energy cycle is governed by the difference between incoming solar radiation (TSI) and outgoing terrestrial radiation (OTR). The small but persistent imbalance between TSI and OSR —known as the Earth Energy Imbalance (EEI)—is the primary driver of long-term climate change. Constraining this imbalance with sufficient accuracy is critical for understanding EEI variations in time and predicting the climate system’s response to anthropogenic forcing. Satellite observations offer unprecedented global coverage and temporal continuity, making them indispensable for tracking the key components of the energy budget. However, achieving the required precision—on the order of tenths of a watt per square meter—remains a formidable challenge due to instrument calibration, orbital stability, sampling biases, and inter-sensor consistency.

This presentation reviews the main satellite-based datasets used to observe Earth’s radiative fluxes, ocean heat content, and surface temperature. It examines how this satellite data constrain both the magnitude and variability of EEI and the associated climate feedback. We highlight the limitations of current observing systems, the inconsistency among independent datasets, and the difficulties in closing the energy budget at global scale. Moreover, we discuss emerging efforts to integrate satellite altimetry (Sentinel 3 and 6), gravimetry (GRACE-FO and NGGM), and radiometry (CERES and ECO) to improve estimates of EEI, determine its drivers and constrain the global energy budget. We outline the key remaining observational gaps and scientific questions that must be addressed to understand the processes driving temporal variations in the global energy cycle in response to greenhouse gases. One significant gap concerns the lack of observations on the role of deep atmospheric convection and its interaction with tropical circulation in modulating climate feedback. This should be a priority in the coming decade, with missions such as EarthCARE, AOS, INCUS, and WIVERN expected to address this need.

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The Hub Talks: UK Gas Leak Detected from Space: An Unexpected Discovery Leading to Large ImpactThe Hub Talks:
2025-06-19 15:00 - 16:00 | Online
Speaker: Dr Emily Dowd is Research Fellow in Greenhouse Gas Modelling at the University of Leeds. She graduated from her PhD at the University of Leeds in 2024 and her thesis focused on analysing methane across difference spatial and temporal scales. Emily’s research focuses on using satellite data and chemical transport models to investigate changes in atmospheric methane. She is currently working on a project which models clumped isotopes of methane in a global 3D chemical transport model. Alongside her research, Emily co-founded an outreach programme called SatSchool. SatSchool aims to introduce key Earth Observation concepts to 11-15 year olds by providing ready-made outreach materials which researchers can take into schools. This project has reached over 7000 students across the UK and continues to provide outreach in schools. Emily was a visiting researcher at the Science Hub in 2023.

Abstract: In spring 2023 a methane leak from a faulty gas pipeline was detected from space and successfully mitigated for the first time in the UK. The leak was discovered by GHGSat satellites while measuring methane emissions from a landfill near Cheltenham, UK. The leak was then confirmed through ground-based mobile surveys, providing the first validation of GHGSat’s emission estimates for an active gas leak. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that is 82 times more potent than carbon dioxide over 20 years and is a major contributor to climate change. Approximately 60% of global emissions come from human activity, including oil and gas operations. This discovery is a prime example of how satellite data can play a crucial role in mitigating the human impact on climate change.

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The Hub Talks: Carbon Mapper - Global distributions of super-emitting methane point sources as detected by satellites
2025-09-25 15:00 - 16:00 | ESRIN Science Hub, Via Galileo Galilei, 1, Frascati, RM, 00044, Italy
Speaker: Daniel Cusworth is the Science Director for Carbon Mapper. Carbon Mapper’s mission is to drive greenhouse gas emission reductions by making methane and carbon dioxide data accessible and actionable. Daniel oversees algorithm development, validation, analysis, and applications of airborne and satellite greenhouse gas datasets. He was formerly a Data Scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a Research Scientist at University of Arizona and worked on quantification of anthropogenic carbon dioxide and methane emissions from regional to facility scales. He received his B.S. in Applied Math/Atmospheric Sciences at UCLA and Ph.D. in Atmospheric Chemistry at Harvard University.

Abstract: Super-emitting (>100 kg/h) methane sources likely contribute significantly to total emissions across several oil&gas basins, but the robust quantification and characterisation of these sources remains uncertain in absence of routine, transparent, and robust measurements. Solving this quantification gap is particularly important given international regulations and initiatives to require low methane intensities across the oil&gas supply chain by country and operator. The Tanager-1 satellite (launched August 2024) has shown capability of detection and quantification of the vast majority of methane super-emitters given adequate observing conditions and spatiotemporal coverage. Here we show Carbon Mapper’s progress in mapping super-emitter distributions and quantifying super-emitter intensities through intensive tasking of the Tanager-1 satellite of the majority of oil and gas infrastructure across key oil&gas producing countries. With 30-m spatial resolution of Tanager-1, we attribute each detection to facility and equipment type, allowing for better understanding of drivers of intensities and how those drivers vary across basins. Significant distributions of super-emitters are routinely detected in Tanager-1 across austere environments (e.g., high latitude, snow-covered), allowing for increased transparency of emission sources in regions that have been typically under-observed. Building a more complete global picture of super-emitters with attribution to infrastructure will aid in constructing mitigation roadmaps for lower-intensity energy.

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The Hub Talks: The NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) Mission: Overview and Status
2025-10-01 11:00 - 12:00
Speaker: Dr Marco Lavalle is the Deputy Project Scientist for the NISAR Mission and the Group Supervisor (JPL equivalent for ESA’s Section Manager) of the SAR Algorithms and Processing Group at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, California). He received an M.Sc. in Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Rome Tor Vergata (Rome, Italy) in 2006 and a Ph.D. from the University of Rennes 1 (Rennes, France) and the University of Rome Tor Vergata in December 2009. From 2006 to 2008, he was a Visiting Scientist at the European Space Agency (ESRIN), supporting ESA’s activities on polarimetric radar calibration and interferometric algorithm development. From January 2010 to December 2011, he was a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow at JPL. He became a Staff Scientist in the Radar Science and Engineering Section at JPL in January 2012. Dr. Lavalle has served as Principal Investigator and co-Investigator for several NASA programs. He has been leading the NASA Distributed Aperture Radar Tomographic Sensors (DARTS) project and is a member of the ESA ROSE-L Mission Advisory Group. His research interests include retrieval algorithm development using interferometric and polarimetric radar techniques, physical and statistical model formulation, electromagnetic propagation, scattering theory, SAR tomography, ecosystem modeling, and surface parameters estimation. Dr. Lavalle is the recipient of the 2019 NASA Early Career Public Achievement Medal and the 2020 JPL Lew Allen Award for Excellence.

Abstract: The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) Mission launched successfully on July 30, 2025, and will begin distributing science data as early as mid-October 2025, ramping up to full science operations – collecting all land and ice-covered surfaces every 12 days from ascending and descending orbit vantage points – in early November 2025. These data will be freely and openly distributed from the NASA Alaska Satellite Facility within days of acquisition. NISAR observations are capable of addressing fundamental and applied research topics spanning disciplines that include ecosystems science, cryosphere science, geodesy, solid earth science, hydrology, disaster response, and resource management. This talk will provide an overview of the mission, including its science and technology innovation, and dive into its status with emphasis on data and uniqueness of this first-of-its-kind L and S band mission.

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The Marine Heat Waves from space: from detection to prediction workshop.
2025-10-13 00:00 - 2025-10-16 23:59 | ESRIN Science Hub, Via Galileo Galilei, 1, Frascati, RM, 00044, Italy
Marine Heat Waves (MHWs) — periods of abnormally high sea surface temperatures lasting several days — are becoming more frequent and intense under climate change. Enhancing our capacity to monitor and predict them is now crucial — not only for science, but also for society and ocean health.

The event gathers 25 experts from 11 countries to exchange insights and shape future research around four core objectives: improving MHW detection, enhancing observability, advancing predictability, and assessing impacts. A major outcome will be a White Paper summarizing key challenges and opportunities and outlining a roadmap for future MHW-related activities.

More information on the workshop is available The Marine Heat Waves from space: from detection to prediction workshop. Science Hub, ESA-ESRIN 13-16th October 2025. – ESA Science Hub

The Hub Talks: Cloud radiative imbalance in global 3D radiative transfer simulations
2025-10-20 10:00 - 10:45
Speaker: Giulia Roccetti is a visiting us in the Science Hub from 14th to 21st ofOctober. Giulia recently finished her PhD at the European Southern Observatoryand has started a research fellowship position at ESA/ESAC. There, she will useEarthCARE data, among other resources, to study how 3D cloud structure affectstheir radiative effect.Abstract: We use 3D cloud fields from the ERA5 reanalysis product to model global-scale 3D radiative transfer in the Earth’s atmosphere. However, strong biases emerge due to the coarse spatial resolution of the ERA5 cloud data. To address this limitation, we have developed a 3D cloud generator capable of representing sub-grid cloud variability and heterogeneity within the ERA5 framework. Using this approach, we find that the simulated cloud radiative effects converge at a horizontal resolution of approximately 6 km. Our next step is to validate this global 3D cloud generator using EarthCARE cloud products and to further investigate how horizontal resolution influences the modeled radiative effects of clouds.

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The Hub Talks: Quantifying atmospheric trace-gas emissions using broadband satellite observations
2025-10-30 15:00 - 16:00 | Online
Speaker: Daniel Varon is an Assistant Professor at MIT in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society. He received his PhD in atmospheric chemistry from Harvard University in 2020 and held postdoctoral fellowships at both Harvard and the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs from 2020 to 2025. His research revolves around satellite remote sensing of atmospheric composition with a focus on quantifying methane and NOx emissions. He is an Associate Editor of the Atmospheric Measurement Techniques journal, Model Scientist of the Integrated Methane Inversion (IMI) cloud-computing tool for quantifying atmospheric methane emissions with satellite observations, and Co-Nested Model Scientist of the GEOS-Chem global chemical transport model.

Abstract: Broadband multispectral satellite instruments have supported a wide range of land-imaging applications since the 1970s. In this talk, I will show how these ubiquitous sensors can also quantify atmospheric trace-gas emissions at facility scale. I will discuss: (1) high-resolution retrieval of methane plumes from oil and gas facilities with the Sentinel-2 Multispectral Instrument (MSI); (2) near-real-time detection of large, transient methane releases using the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI); and (3) mapping of NOx point sources at 10–60 m with Sentinel-2 MSI and the Landsat Operational Land Imager (OLI).

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