The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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Operational Ice Maps are produced on the fly by the German company Drift+Noise Polar Services based on data from optical, active, and passive microwave satellites at both high and low resolutions. After processing, extracted sea ice information in the desired area of interest is sent via communication satellites directly to the customer.
Left: A Sentinel-1 radar image visualized on board of an icebreaker. The red lines shows the cruise track navigating around a thick multi-year ice floes.
Centre: It is a difficult task to find the optimal route through the ice when it is dark and foggy. Fortunately the Sentinel-1 radar satellites produce high resolution images of the ice cover even in such conditions.
Right: Visualization of satellite images can be enhanced by combining them with a landmark and digital elevation model. Shown are ice fields at the coast of southern Greenland.