News and Events

Forest degradation primary driver of carbon loss...

Forest degradation, to be distinguished from deforestation, has become the largest process driving carbon loss in the Brazilian Amazon, according to a recent study using ESA...

Arctic sea ice succumbs to Atlantification

With alarm bells ringing about the rapid demise of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, satellite data have revealed how the intrusion of warmer Atlantic waters is reducing ice regrowth...

Water mission takes on space weather

SMOS’ list of talents is getting longer. New findings show that what was considered noise in the mission’s data can actually be used to monitor solar activity and space weather,...

African rainforests have not recovered after the...

Using a tool they recently developed, researchers from INRAE, CEA and CNRS quantified the evolution of carbon stocks in the aerial biomass in the tropics (America, Africa, Asia)...

SMOS monitors ocean acidification from space

Carbon dioxyde causes ocean acidification, alters bio-geo-chemical cycles and affects marine fauna.

French-European SMOS mission celebrates 10 years...

A new tool to monitor the carbon budget from space

An international study carried out by the European satellite SMOS now makes it possible to monitor the carbon budget of vegetation with a first application to the African...

Satellite observations reveal secrets of dry...

In dry tropical forests, vegetation takes up water at the end of the wet season and stores it during the driest season of the year. This large amount of stored water enables trees...

CNES at the COSPAR Symposium ‘Water and Life in...

CNES is at the COSPAR Symposium, ‘Water and Life in the Universe’, which is bringing together the world’s space science community this week at Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. CNES...

Drought on western Europe

Western Europe is experiencing a significant water deficit.

Since 2009 Ocean monitoring by SMOS

SINCE 2009 OCEAN MONITORING BY SMOS Update: 11/07/2011

SMOS sends back first pictures

Europe’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite (SMOS) reached its final operating orbit on 19 November. In addition to its prime mission, SMOS is also mapping brightness...

SMOS heads for Russia on 16 September

The SMOS Earth-observation satellite is all set to be flown from Cannes to Arkhangelsk, 200 km south of the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, in readiness for its scheduled 2 November launch.