Following the selection of the CarbonSat and FLEX candidate Earth Explorers to enter Phase-A/B1, ESA is setting up a Mission Advisory Group for each mission. Scientists from the Earth science community are now invited to apply for membership.

Applications can be made via: http://missionadvice.esa.int
The deadline for submission is 12:00 (noon) CET on 15 March 2011.

Since Earth Explorers are developed in close cooperation with the scientific community, Mission Advisory Groups play an important role in the consolidation and development of new mission concepts.

The Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) and CarbonSat missions were selected to move forward to Phase-A/B1 in November 2010. This phase includes feasibility study and consolidation of the various components that make up a satellite mission.

The FLEX mission aims to provide global maps of vegetation fluorescence, which can be converted into an indicator of photosynthetic activity. These data would improve our understanding of the amount of carbon stored in plants and their role in the carbon and water cycles.

The CarbonSat mission aims quantify and monitor the distribution of two of the most important greenhouse gases in the atmosphere released through human activity: carbon dioxide and methane. Data from the mission would lead to a better understanding of the sources and sinks of these two gases and how they are linked to climate change.

The role of a Mission Advisory Group member is to provide scientific advice to ESA and assist in the drafting of the Report for Mission Selection for the relevant mission. These reports underpin the evaluation process that will lead to the selection and subsequent implementation of ESA's eighth Earth Explorer mission.

For more information about the two mission concepts and the Mission Advisory Group application procedure please visit the website noted above and also linked in the right-hand bar.