Access to ESA Data

European Space Agency (ESA) Earth Observation (EO) data archives span a large number of missions, comprising both ESA and non-ESA satellite data. See the full list of satellites. Use of ESA data implies registering as a scientific user of Earth Observation data products at the Earth Observation Principal Investigator portal.

There are four simple ways to register to obtain ESA EO data or ESA Campaign Data products:

1. Fast registration for routine data products available on the internet
   

   Fast Registration gives free-of-charge access to products routinely produced by the Agency, and which are available either by the Internet, or Data Distribution System (Europe only). Registration requires a short description of the intended use of the data.

   See the list of systematic products available via fast registration (PDF).

   Note: this does not provide the ability for a user to influence tasking of satellites.

2. Category 1 Scientific User Registration
   

   Cat 1 registration allows the user to do more than download existing archived products. It allows specific satellite instrument tasking, access to products not generated systematically, and access to products not available on the Internet. The Category 1 Scientific User registration is distinct from the method adopted for registration of commercial or Category 2 data users. Registration involves providing details about the project and the list of collaborators through a Web-based form.

3. ESA Announcements of Opportunity for Data Use
   

   Periodic Announcements of Opportunity (AOs) to use ESA data seek projects addressing a specific theme. An IPY Announcement was made in 2006. To see the list of approved projects under the IPY AO, go to Search PI Projects, select "Other", and search for Type= "AO FOR THE INTERNATIONAL POLAR YEAR 2007-2008".

4. Registration for ESA EO Campaign Data
   

   ESA EO Campaigns produce data from airborne and in-situ instrumentation. Data are available through the same registration procedure as satellite data. The list of campaign data in the archive is growing, and will be expanded as new data sets are added.

   See the list and description of ESA Earth Observation Campaigns Data.

General Information

Use of ESA data requires that you cite the data source in all publications and places where the products appear (such as web stories, etc.). In addition, there is a specific requirement not to redistribute products outside the registered team of co-investigators. The team of linked investigators may be subsequently modified at any time for any registered Cat 1 project via email.

Further information about the details of the registration procedure can be found in the ENVISAT Data Access Description Document.

For more information, please contact the ESA Earth Observation Helpdesk Team.