The greenhouse effect occurs when greenhouse gases in a planet's atmosphere cause some of the heat radiated from the planet's surface to build up at the planet's surface. This process happens because stars emit shortwave radiation that passes through greenhouse gases, but planets emit longwave radiation that is partly absorbed by greenhouse gases. That difference reduces the rate at which a planet can cool off in response to being warmed by its host star. Adding to greenhouse gases further reduces the rate a planet emits radiation to space, raising its average surface temperature.
Infrared astronomy is a sub-discipline of astronomy which specializes in the observation and analysis of astronomical objects using infrared (IR) radiation. The wavelength of infrared light ranges from 0.75 to 300 micrometers, and falls in between visible radiation, which ranges from 380 to 750 nanometers, and submillimeter waves.
Venus Express (VEX) was the first Venus exploration mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). Launched in November 2005, it arrived at Venus in April 2006 and began continuously sending back science data from its polar orbit around Venus. Equipped with seven scientific instruments, the main objective of the mission was the long term observation of the Venusian atmosphere. The observation over such long periods of time had never been done in previous missions to Venus, and was key to a better understanding of the atmospheric dynamics. ESA concluded the mission in December 2014.
Earth's energy budget accounts for the balance between the energy that Earth receives from the Sun and the energy the Earth loses back into outer space. Smaller energy sources, such as Earth's internal heat, are taken into consideration, but make a tiny contribution compared to solar energy. The energy budget also accounts for how energy moves through the climate system. Because the Sun heats the equatorial tropics more than the polar regions, received solar irradiance is unevenly distributed. As the energy seeks equilibrium across the planet, it drives interactions in Earth's climate system, i.e., Earth's water, ice, atmosphere, rocky crust, and all living things. The result is Earth's climate.
CryoSat is an ESA programme to monitor variations in the extent and thickness of polar ice through use of a satellite in low Earth orbit. The information provided about the behaviour of coastal glaciers that drain thinning ice sheets will be key to better predictions of future sea level rise. The CryoSat-1 spacecraft was lost in a launch failure in 2005, however the programme was resumed with the successful launch of a replacement, CryoSat-2, launched on 8 April 2010.
Longwave (LW) radiation, in the context of climate science, is electromagnetic thermal radiation emitted by Earth's surface, atmosphere, and clouds. Longwave radiation may also be referred to as terrestrial radiation, thermal infrared radiation, or thermal radiation. This radiation is in the infrared portion of the spectrum, but is distinct from the shortwave (SW) near-infrared radiation found in sunlight.
Copernicus is the Earth observation component of the European Union Space Programme, managed by the European Commission and implemented in partnership with the EU Member States, the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Environment Agency (EEA), the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), Frontex, SatCen and Mercator Océan.
An atmospheric window is a range of wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum that can pass through the atmosphere of Earth. The optical, infrared and radio windows comprise the three main atmospheric windows. The windows provide direct channels for Earth's surface to receive electromagnetic energy from the Sun, and for thermal radiation from the surface to leave to space. Atmospheric windows are useful for astronomy, remote sensing, telecommunications and other science & technology applications.
Sentinel-3 is an Earth observation heavy satellite series developed by the European Space Agency as part of the Copernicus Programme. It currently consists of 2 satellites: Sentinel-3A and Sentinel-3B. After initial commissioning, each satellite was handed over to EUMETSAT for the routine operations phase of the mission. Two recurrent satellites— Sentinel-3C and Sentinel-3D— will follow in approximately 2024 and 2028 respectively to ensure continuity of the Sentinel-3 mission.
Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) is a satellite which forms part of ESA's Living Planet Programme. It is intended to provide new insights into Earth's water cycle and climate. In addition, it is intended to provide improved weather forecasting and monitoring of snow and ice accumulation.
The Living Planet Programme (LPP) is a programme within the European Space Agency which is managed by the Earth Observation Programmes Directorate. LPP consists of two classes of Earth observation missions including research missions known as Earth Explorers, and the Earth Watch class of missions whose objective is to develop support operational applications such as numerical weather forecasting or resource management.
Sea surface kinematics multiscale monitoring (SKIM) was one of the two candidate missions for the 9th Earth Explorer mission of in the Living Planet Programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). SKIM and the other candidate (FORUM) were pre-selected for a detailed study in November 2017. Only one of the two candidates was to be selected in 2019 for immediate implementation and a possible launch by the year 2025, and FORUM was chosen.
Swarm is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission to study the Earth's magnetic field. High-precision and high-resolution measurements of the strength, direction and variations of the Earth's magnetic field, complemented by precise navigation, accelerometer and electric field measurements, will provide data for modelling the geomagnetic field and its interaction with other physical aspects of the Earth system. The results offer a view of the inside of the Earth from space, enabling the composition and processes of the interior to be studied in detail and increase our knowledge of atmospheric processes and ocean circulation patterns that affect climate and weather.
EarthCARE is a planned joint European/Japanese satellite, the sixth of ESA's Earth Explorer Programme. The main goal of the mission is the observation and characterization of clouds and aerosols as well as measuring the reflected solar radiation and the infrared radiation emitted from Earth's surface and atmosphere.
CryoSat-1, also known as just CryoSat, was a European Space Agency satellite which was lost in a launch failure in 2005. The satellite was launched as part of the European Space Agency's CryoSat mission, which aims to monitor ice in the high latitudes. The second mission satellite, CryoSat-2, was successfully launched in April 2010.
ADEOS I was an Earth observation satellite launched by NASDA in 1996. The mission's Japanese name, Midori means "green". The mission ended in July 1997 after the satellite sustained structural damage to the solar panel. Its successor, ADEOS II, was launched in 2002. Like the first mission, it ended after less than a year, also following solar panel malfunctions.
In the Earth's atmosphere, water vapor absorbs many wavelengths of Infrared (IR) energy, while others are not absorbed. The remaining sections of the Electromagnetic spectrum that the water vapor does not absorb are like an opening in the atmosphere, allowing electromagnetic energy to flow freely in and out of the system, much like a window that allows light to enter and leave. Originally discovered by John Tyndall, most of the infrared coming from the Universe is blocked, and absorbed by water vapor in the Earth's atmosphere. These wavelength ranges that can partially reach the surface are coming through what is called 'water vapor windows'. These windows are how astronomers can view the Universe with IR telescopes, called Infrared astronomy. The net incoming solar shortwave radiation and the net outgoing terrestrial longwave radiation at the top of the atmosphere keep the Earth's energy balance in check. The global averaged value of emitted, longwave radiation is 238.5 Wm2, according Loeb et al. (2009)'s study of satellite observation. One may get the effective emission temperature of the globe by assuming that the Earth-atmosphere system radiates as a blackbody in accordance with the Stefan-Boltzmann equation of blackbody radiation. The resultant temperature is -18.7 °C. Compared to +14.5 °C, the average worldwide temperature of the Earth's surface, it is 33 °C cooler. This suggests that the Earth's surface is up to 33 °C warmer than it would be without the atmosphere. These windows also allow orbiting satellites to measure the IR energy leaving the planet, the SSTs, and other important matters. See Electromagnetic absorption by water: Atmospheric effects.
Sentinel-4 is a European Earth observation mission developed to support the European Union Copernicus Programme for monitoring the Earth. It focuses on monitoring of trace gas concentrations and aerosols in the atmosphere to support operational services covering air-quality near-real time applications, air-quality protocol monitoring and climate protocol monitoring. The specific objective of Sentinel-4 is to support this with a high revisit time over Europe.
Biomass is an Earth observing satellite planned for launch by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2024 on a Vega launch vehicle.
