ESA title

The mission

Envisat was the largest Earth observation spacecraft ever built. The mission delivered thousands of images and a wealth of data used to study the workings of the Earth system, including insights into factors contributing to climate change. The end of the mission was declared on 9 May 2012, but ten years of Envisat’s archived data continue to be exploited for studying our planet.

The launch

  • Date: 01 March 2002
  • Site: Kourou, French Guiana
  • Rocket: Ariane 5
Envisat
Harder Glacier, northern Greenland
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Greenland subglacial flood bursts through ice sheet surface

30/07/2025 5922 views 42 likes
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Trends in Arctic sea ice thickness from 2011–2025
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Sea ice lows high on the agenda

24/06/2025 1868 views 22 likes
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Global sea surface temperature
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Sea surface warming faster than expected

17/04/2025 7081 views 59 likes
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Protecting areas of the Atlantic Ocean from human activity
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Protecting ocean biodiversity with satellite data

15/04/2025 2103 views 31 likes
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Global ocean acidification stripes
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Satellites increasingly critical to monitor ocean health

22/02/2024 3452 views 29 likes
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Lake Victoria
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Severe heatwaves putting lakes in hot water

24/02/2022 4079 views 83 likes
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Baltic Sea from Copernicus Sentinel-3
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New satellite data techniques reveal coastal sea-level rise

07/07/2021 16098 views 112 likes
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Victims of diminishing Arctic sea ice
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Arctic coastal sea ice thinning twice as fast than thought

10/06/2021 4859 views 110 likes
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Above ground biomass
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Maps to improve forest biomass estimates

17/03/2021 10787 views 102 likes
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Earth is losing ice at record rate
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Our world is losing ice at record rate

25/01/2021 18173 views 141 likes
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Antarctic landscape
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Places in Antarctica named in honour of ice scientists

09/12/2020 4689 views 61 likes
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Cracked: Pine Island Glacier
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Emerging cracks in the Pine Island Glacier

18/10/2019 10120 views 90 likes
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Bathymetry of Chukchi Cap
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Expanding our knowledge of Arctic Ocean bathymetry

24/07/2019 5532 views 58 likes
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Non-linear tides in the Barents Sea
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Modelling tides in the Arctic Ocean

11/07/2019 4905 views 46 likes
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Ice streams named
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Antarctic glaciers named after satellites

07/06/2019 5291 views 60 likes
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Antarctic ice loss 1992–2019
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A quarter of glacier ice in West Antarctica is now unstable

16/05/2019 7976 views 114 likes
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Losing ice
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Greenland ice loss quickening

06/12/2018 8343 views 131 likes
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Regional sea-level trends
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Spotlight on sea-level rise

25/09/2018 16265 views 97 likes
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Ozone ups and downs

15/11/2017 9426 views 114 likes
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Satellites track Antarctic ice loss over decades

02/05/2017 8743 views 110 likes
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Satellites track variations in Antarctica’s glacial retreat

12/12/2016 5648 views 61 likes
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Wilkins Ice Shelf, 1994–2015
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Sharing Earth observation satellite data to help understand…

01/12/2016 4489 views 51 likes
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Methane increase
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Methane and carbon dioxide on the rise

13/05/2016 13165 views 126 likes
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Astrolabe Glacier
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Antarctic ice safety band at risk

08/02/2016 12449 views 161 likes
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Basilica di Massenzio
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On solid ground

03/12/2014 6791 views 94 likes
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Turnover times
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Timing carbon turnover

03/12/2014 8132 views 50 likes
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Emission pattern and trends
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Good and bad news for our atmosphere

29/09/2014 9119 views 74 likes
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Poyang lake
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Ten year-old Dragon gains new strength

30/05/2014 6476 views 46 likes
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Sea-surface temperature
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Is global warming hiding underwater?

07/02/2014 9030 views 103 likes
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Land surface temperature
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Taking Earth’s temperature

13/01/2014 19990 views 75 likes
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Reflecting on Earth’s albedo

06/09/2013 36461 views 101 likes
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Carbon dioxide levels 2002–12
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Our living planet: Earth’s ‘carbon dioxide breathing’ seen …

04/09/2013 16112 views 106 likes
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Northern biomass
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Earth’s northern biomass mapped and measured

26/06/2013 9287 views 73 likes
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Threshing rice
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A helping hand from above for The Gambia

14/06/2013 5310 views 26 likes
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Greece deformations
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Greece’s ups and downs

15/04/2013 7514 views 53 likes
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Tracking trains with satellite precision

25/02/2013 15902 views 54 likes
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Is the ozone layer on the road to recovery?

08/02/2013 42272 views 125 likes
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Snowy Siberia
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Earth from Space: Snowy Siberia

30/11/2012 2888 views 5 likes
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The island of Elba, Italy
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Earth from Space: Mediterranean pearls

23/11/2012 2602 views 5 likes
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Lofoten animation screenshot
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Norwegian Sea’s ups and downs

20/11/2012 2087 views 3 likes
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Tibesti Mountains
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Earth from Space: Mountains of hunger

16/11/2012 3647 views 6 likes
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Cyprus
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Earth from Space: Aphrodite’s island

02/11/2012 2873 views 2 likes
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Wadden Sea crop
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Satellites keep an eye on Dutch dikes

23/10/2012 3437 views 3 likes
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Kimberley region, Australia
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Earth from Space: Kimberley

19/10/2012 3050 views 6 likes
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Sombrero uplift
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South America’s sombrero uplift

12/10/2012 1859 views 1 likes
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ESA’s 2009 global land cover map
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Focus on space debris: Envisat

11/10/2012 3892 views 3 likes
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Cloud-free image of Iceland
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Earth from Space: Iceland

05/10/2012 3983 views 4 likes
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Grison Alps
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Landslide mapping in the Swiss Alps

26/09/2012 4524 views 10 likes
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Radar altimetry gains altitude in Venice

24/09/2012 2977 views 3 likes
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Mean sea level trends
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Call for Media: new data on global sea level changes

19/09/2012 2223 views 0 likes
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