ESA-ESRIN

The European Space Agency's ESRIN establishment corporate video. ESRIN is ESA’s centre for Earth observation and is located in Frascati, south of Rome in Italy. It is the centre for handle all data management and processing of Earth observation data, coming from both ESA and non-ESA satellites. ESRIN is also the home of the Vega project: Europe’s new smaller satellite launcher. The complete information infrastructure in ESA is managed from ESRIN, as well as ESA corporate web portal, with thousand of articles. The following is included in the video:

0:08 General intro to ESA and the collaboration between 17 European coiuntries and Canada.

1:02 ESRIN – ESA’s centre for Earth observation is in Frascati, south of Rome in Italy. All data from Eath observation satellites are received at ESRIN, archived and then distributed from this ESA site.

1:20 Satellite and our planet: Only satellites provide a global view of the Earth. ESA’s biggest satellite so far is Envisat with ten highly sophisticated instruments onboard analyse the Earth with an unprecedented details.

1:58 ESRIN tasks start when Earth observation data from satellites like Envisat touches the ground. ESRIN coordinates more than 30 ground stations worldwide, for the reception of data from Earth observations satellites. The data is then forwarded to ESRIN where the data is the pre-processed, checked for quality and stored. ESRIN holds the biggest storage of Earth observation data for Europe and Africa. Raw data and finished data product are then distributed to scientists, public institutions, businesses, some United Nation’s organisations and the European Commission.

3:01 The use of satellite data: Scientists use satellite data to understand climate changes such as El Niño, but also to monitor oil spills, deforestation, atmospheric pollution, the ozone layer, the reason for rising sea levels and melting ice caps.

3:55 Global Monitoring for Environment and Security is the new programme GMES. This is a joint initiative of ESA and the European Commission bringing together satellite operators and end users. The objective is to set up at system of data exchange which provides global information on which European environment and security policies can be based.

4.28 Disaster Management: Space agencies worldwide joint hands to provide crucial information from satellite data for a better management of disasters, natural or man-made. A kind of hot-line between space agencies has been set up. It is called the “International Charter on Space & Major Disasters”. ESRIN has an operation online 24hours a day to receive request from civil protection authorities. Once an emergency call arrives, all space agencies are put on maximum alert and within 3 hours an action plan for observations is proposed for satellite planners across the globe.

5:42 The Vega Launcher: The small European launcher Vega will soon complement the famous Ariane 5 launcher. Vega is a 30m high launch vehicle which can launch small payloads of 1.5 tons into orbit, such as mid-size Earth observation and scientific satellites. ESRIN in Frascati is the base for the project team responsible for the development of Vega. Although Vega has a completely different design than Ariane, there is a lot of reuse of technology.

6:57 Information Technology and New Media: ESRIN contributes to new information and media technology. Pilot projects cover telecommunication application for civil protection authorities, telemedicine, remote e-learning and e-commerce projects. ESRIN also managed the entire infrastructure of ESA’s information systems

8:11 ESRIN is also responsible for the ESA web portal, with thousands of stories being continuously updates with new information.

9:11 The End