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
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The map, generated using SMOS data, shows the soil moisture values across central Europe on 31 May and 2 June 2013. The blues indicate wetter soils and the yellow and orange colours indicate dryer soils. For example, a value of 0.50 means that there is 500 litres of water in one cubic metre of soil. Heavy rainfall has led to disastrous flooding in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.