The Top 10 Earth Observation Stories of 2023

10) We celebrate the 25th anniversary of the birth of Copernicus

9) We discovered smelly algae from space

Sargassum is a large brown seaweed that floats in large numbers along the surface of the ocean. It is an important habitat for marine species, providing food refuge and breeding grounds. It also absorbs atmospheric carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and converts it into organic carbon. However, when tons of garbage accumulate along coastlines, it decays, releasing toxins such as hydrogen sulfide and producing a pungent odor.

This year’s bloom spanned more than 8,800 kilometers from the coast of Africa to the Gulf of Mexico, weighed about 10 million tons, and was so large that it could be seen from space. Copernicus Sentinel-2 images show Sargassum located approximately 45 kilometers off the west coast of Guadeloupe.

It was expected to be the largest record ever recorded, but then unexpectedly shrunk.

Read the full article: Stinky seaweed bloom heads to Florida

8) We have statistics on wildfire conditions around the world

This summer, devastating wildfires ravaged Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Algeria and Canada, causing massive environmental and economic damage as well as human toll.

In light of the fires, ESA has reopened the World Fire Atlas, which provides insights into the distribution of individual fires occurring at national and global scales.

The dashboard uses nighttime data from the Land-Sea Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) on the Copernicus Sentinel-3A satellite. The sensor works like a thermometer in the sky, measuring thermal infrared radiation to get the temperature of the Earth’s surface, which it can use to detect fires.

During many of these outbreaks, the Copernicus emergency mapping service was activated. The service uses satellite observations to aid civil defense authorities and the international humanitarian community to respond to emergencies when disaster strikes.

Read more: Statistics on wildfires around the world

7) Ice loss in Antarctica and Greenland hits record lows

A report from the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Comparison Exercise stated that between 1992 and 2020, the polar ice cap lost 7.56 trillion tons of ice, equivalent to an ice block with a side length of 20 kilometers.

Satellite records show that polar ice sheets are losing ice every year, with seven of the fastest melting years occurring in the past decade. Melting peaked in 2019, when the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets lost a staggering 612 billion tons of ice.

Scientists use data from satellites such as ESA’s CryoSat and Copernicus Sentinel-1, which measure changes in ice volume and flow, as well as satellites that provide gravity information, to calculate how much ice is being lost.

Read the full article: Greenland and Antarctica set new records for ice loss

6) We saw an iceberg bigger than London break free

For years, glaciologists have been monitoring the many cracks and crevices that have formed in the thick Brunt Ice Shelf, which borders the coast of Cots Land in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea region. It was only a matter of time before the A-81 iceberg broke free.

After several years of desperate efforts, satellite images confirmed that the huge iceberg finally calved from Antarctica’s Brunt Ice Shelf on January 22. The iceberg covers an area of ​​about 1,550 square kilometers, equivalent to the size of Greater London and five times the size of Malta. It is currently floating near the ice edge of the Ronne Ice Shelf, about 600 kilometers away from where the iceberg calved.

Daily monitoring by satellites provides unparalleled visibility into events occurring in remote areas. The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission carries radar that returns images day or night, allowing us to watch year-round.

Read the full article: Giant iceberg breaks off Antarctic ice shelf

5) 2023 will be the hottest year on record

The WMO interim State of the Global Climate report confirms that 2023 will be the hottest year on record. Data to the end of October show that the year was about 1.40C above the pre-industrial baseline of 18501900.

El Niño appeared in the Northern Hemisphere spring in 2023 and developed rapidly in the summer, which may further intensify the high temperatures in 2024, because El Niño usually has the greatest impact on global temperatures after reaching its peak.

Data from the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission’s radiometer instrument shows surface temperatures in July 2023. Surface temperature refers to how hot the Earth’s surface is when touched. The temperatures given in our daily weather forecasts are a measure of how hot the air is at the surface.

Full story link: Europe braces for sweltering July

4) Three Sentinel satellites map methane super emitters

Methane is the second largest contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide. Typically, methane emissions are monitored by the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite. But this year, scientists combined data from multiple satellites to monitor methane from space for the first time.

SRON Researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Space Research have discovered continuous methane emissions from a leaking facility using data from the Tropomi instrument on Sentinel-5P. They then used Sentinel-2 imagery to zoom in on the plume’s origin and pinpoint the exact location of the leak, while Sentinel-3 showed that the leak lasted for six days.

Combining data from these satellites, the researchers were able to precisely zoom in, identify, quantify and monitor the methane sources corresponding to the plumes observed in the Sentinel-5P global scan.

Read the full article: Three Sentinel satellites map methane super-emission sources

3) The 2023 ozone hole is one of the largest on record

Just like the sea ice around Antarctica grows and recedes every year, the ozone hole fluctuates periodically.

Observations from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite indicate that on September 16, 2023, the area of ​​the ozone hole, or ozone-depleting region, reached approximately 26 million square kilometers, making it one of the largest seasonal holes ever observed. That’s about three times the size of Brazil.

One possible reason for this year’s unusual ozone pattern may be related to the January 2022 eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hungahapai volcano, which injected large amounts of water vapor into the stratosphere. Despite the larger seasonal growth this year, the overall size of the ozone hole is still shrinking. Scientists currently predict that by around 2050, the global ozone layer will return to normal conditions again.

Read the full article: Ozone hole grows bigger again

2) We bid farewell to the historical mission Fengshen

This year we bid farewell to one of ESA’s most successful Earth observation missions, the Aeolus mission. As an Earth explorer, the satellite was designed for research missions and to demonstrate new space technologies.

The Kazekami mission re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere over the Antarctic at around 21:00 Central European Daylight Time on July 28, exceeding scientific expectations and exceeding its planned on-orbit lifetime. This is the first assisted reentry into the atmosphere, setting a new standard for safe satellite reentry and space debris mitigation.

Read the full article: Fengshen: The historic end of a pioneering mission

1) We have entered a new era of satellite weather imagery

The weather satellite’s third-generation imager not only provided images of Earth for the first time this year, but also gave us dramatic lightning animations, confirming its ability to revolutionize the detection and prediction of severe storms.

Meteosat’s third-generation Imager-1 is the first of six satellites that make up the complete MTG system. When fully operational, the system will provide critical data for short-term and early detection of potential extreme weather events over the next 20 years.

Its first images of Earth reveal details of European and African weather that were previously impossible to capture from 36,000 kilometers away. Just a few months later, the Satellite Lightning Imager was launched. The Lightning Imager is the first-ever satellite instrument to continuously detect lightning in Europe and Africa, a capability that promises to revolutionize the detection and prediction of severe storms.

Read the full story: New weather satellite reveals spectacular images of Earth and European satellite lightning