The European Commission and the European Space Agency launched a dedicated website for their Earth System Science Initiative on November 4, creating a single entry point for information about collaborative environmental research.
The initiative, known as ESSI, began in 2020. ESA says it now connects 30 alliances,71 projects and more than 430 organisations. The new website presents those collaborations, their scientific priorities and selected research results.
Its six broad research areas cover atmospheric composition, biodiversity and vulnerable ecosystems, extreme events and climate adaptation, ocean health, polar change, and terrestrial carbon science. Researchers combine satellite observations with measurements taken on the ground and computer modelling.
Visitors can browse alliances and projects, read impact stories and find related events at the ESSI portal. The site distinguishes active work from projects still being prepared or already completed.
The announcement concerns access to information about an existing research initiative. It is not the launch of a new satellite or the completion of all the programmes listed.
Archive illustration: the coasts of India and Bangladesh meeting the Bay of Bengal, photographed from the International Space Station on February 21, 2020; not an ESSI project image. Photo: NASA, used under NASA media-use guidelines. Display may be resized or cropped.
