Spectacular images of the Earth are now available in the Envisat Earth Images gallery

Paris, 11 June 2002

[ If you are online, visit the ESA site and view the this text there with the accompanying photographs, then browse through these extraordinary images! ]
ESA pages including the photographs

These images highlight the enormous potential of Envisat, the world’s largest and most capable environmental satellite. Launched in March 2002, Envisat carries a suite of 10 powerful instruments designed to provide valuable information about our environment and perform the most thorough set of observations of our planet ever made from space.

Data from these sensors will play a vital role in helping scientists, governments, and others in better understanding the causes, and consequences, of global environmental changes --from detecting El Nino events and unravelling the mysteries of global warming, to gaining crucial insights into the rise in ocean levels and tracking global deforestation.

The Envisat Earth Images gallery contains both high- and low-resolution versions of images acquired by Envisat’s three imaging sensors since the launch of the satellite, including:

Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR)

The ASAR instrument uses radar to map the surface of the planet below. It is able to map the shape of the land, profile waves and ice, monitor land use and types of vegetation, and measure some of the properties of the surface.

ASAR can be operated in several different modes to allow broad views or detailed snapshots. Envisat’s ASAR instrument is the first permanent spaceborne radar to incorporate dual-polarisation capabilities - the instrument can transmit and receive signals in either horizontal or vertical polarisation.

This Alternating Polarisation (AP) mode improves the capability of a SAR instrument to classify different types of terrain. Because the reflective properties of a surface are dependant on the polarisation of the incoming radar signal, the use of more than one type of polarisation provides valuable extra information.

Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS)

MERIS acquires images of the planet’s surface and clouds in sunlight, capturing visible light and some of the infrared part of the spectrum.

MERIS capabilities include: determining the exact colour of the oceans and coastal zones to reflect biological activity and other processes; monitoring clouds and detect invisible water vapour in the atmosphere; identifying plants at various growth stages, and; measuring chlorophyll levels, allowing calculation of the amount of vegetable biomass.

Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR)

The AATSR sensor scans land and ocean surfaces at several infrared and visible frequencies to measure temperatures. It is able to measure sea surface temperatures to an accuracy of 0.3°C, detect hot spots from forest fires, and map the extent of vegetation in different regions.

Visit the Envisat Earth Images gallery here

European Space Agency
http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/index.html