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
Go to topicThe Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) sensor aboard Envisat captured these images in the UK on 15 and 23 July 2007. Flooded areas are visible as dark features.
The ASAR was operating in its wide-swath mode covering an area larger than 400 km with a spatial resolution of 150 m, which allows a synoptic view of large areas in all weather conditions. For more detailed analysis, images from Envisat’s narrow-swath mode (25 m spatial resolution) is used. Acquisitions of the area were obtained on 26 July 2007 and provided to the International Charter on 'Space and Major Disasters', a joint initiative for providing emergency response satellite data free of charge to those affected by disasters anywhere in the world.