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Plunge into warmer waters this summer with ESA's Mediterranean heat map   Bathers testing the water temperature on holiday - ESA's Medspiration project provides an alternative method, generating daily heat maps across the entire Mediterranean.  The Space Science and Technology Department (SSTD) at the CLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) carries out an exciting range of space research and technology development. With significant involvement in over 50 space missions in recent years, SSTD is in the forefront of UK space research. Here can be seen the Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) instrument for the Envisat satellite being prepared for testing in a thermal vacuum tank at RAL.  At the top of the image, south of the Carpathian Mountains, the Danube brings sediment-rich waters into the Black Sea. Combined with the often-intense biological activity that takes place in this sea, the resulting phytoplankton and the suspended sediments create the vivid green patches seen in the image.
Further south, Greece, and the Aegean Sea are facing the Mediterranean. The Romans used to call the Mediterranean the ‘Mare Nostrum’, meaning, ‘Our Sea’. Since centuries, the navigation on its waters has played and important role in the development of European countries. MERIS, with its 15 visible and near-infrared channels enable the retrieval of water composition data. It provides Europe with an unprecedented tool to better understand and monitor the eco-systems of our coastal waters.  ESA's ten-instrument Envisat environmental satellite has been observing the Earth for more than three years. Picture by EADS Astrium. Release date: 26 January 2006 |