Earth Observation Excellence Award 2024 winner
Celebrating the outstanding efforts of scientists and researchers who have advanced the innovative application of Earth observation data, ESA proudly announces the recipient of this year's esteemed Excellence Award. Dr Iestyn Woolway, from Bangor University in the UK, wins the 2024 Earth Observation Excellence Award.
Iestyn’s work focuses on the physics and hydrology of lakes worldwide and their links to climate using space-based observations combined with in situ data and modelling to measure water temperature, evaporation, and ice cover.
In recent years, Earth observation has been going through a significant transformation. The emergence of new Earth observation instruments, along with advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data technologies, has opened in a wealth of possibilities for both scientific exploration and practical applications.
The ESA Earth Observation Excellence Award celebrates these new opportunities and rewards researchers who are in the early stages of their careers and who have made a remarkable contributions to the pioneering use of Earth observation data, with a primary focus on data sourced from European satellites.
The announcement of the winner follows an independent evaluation of nominations led by the European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC) of the European Science Foundation.
There will be a celebration for the winner during the ESA’s Living Planet Symposium in June 2025.
The winner will be granted a maximum of €35,000 to advance their research, contingent upon a proposal detailing how the funds will be used to propel their work forward.
Simonetta Cheli, ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, said, “Our congratulations go to the deserving winner of this year’s Earth Observation Excellence Award. We were very impressed by their outstanding research, which not only demonstrates scientific excellence but also sheds light on the numerous opportunities afforded by Earth observation.”
In evaluating the nominations put forward for the award, the European Space Sciences Committee felt that the finalists also deserve a mention.
These being Dr Marcello Passaro from the Technical University Of Munich nominated for their outstanding work on sea level, waves and oceanography. Dr Passaro designed the multimission ALES processor (adaptive leading edge sub waveform) for radar altimetry.
The other finalist was Dr Luke Brown from the University of Salford who use optical remote sensing to retrieve vegetation biophysical and biochemical properties.
