Tastes of space

ISS - International Space Station logo.

October 23, 2018

There is nothing quite like the taste of home – especially when you live on the International Space Station. For ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst that taste comes in the form of chicken ragout with mushrooms, or lentils spätzle and sausage, specifically developed by Lufthansa chefs for maximum flavour and a long shelf-life.

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet with a special delivery of French macarons

To make it on board the International Space Station, food must be crumb-free, light-weight and keep for at least 18 months without preservatives. For future missions to Moon and Mars, it will need to last even longer.

One of ESA's goals is to create a closed life-support system, including water recovery and food production, that will support astronauts in space indefinitely without costly supplies from Earth. This kind of technology could also be used to aid communities on Earth whose access to food, water or clean air is scarce.

Crew-specific meals

ESA crew support Susanne Altenburger says food developed for specific crew members and missions – like Alexander’s chicken ragout, or the French New Year’s Eve dinner of Thomas Pesquet’s Proxima mission – makes up around 10 percent of an astronaut’s food allocation in space. Development of these dishes starts anywhere from a year and half to two years before a mission.

“We start selecting meals and testing well in advance because, as well as being approved by the astronaut, meals must be sent to the lab for safety and nutritional testing, after being freeze-dried, thermostabilised or vacuum packed,” Susanne explains.

Alexander Gerst food testing

Processing reduces the likelihood of foodborne illnesses and extends the food’s shelf-life. Meals are then sent to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, USA, and must arrive months in advance of the next cargo vehicle launch.

With a full schedule of science and operations, as well as the impact of microgravity on bone density, muscle tone and nutrients, it is vital an astronaut’s daily diet contains the fuel they need.

Developed by France’s CNES space agency and the MEDES Institute for Space Physiology and Medicine for Thomas’ Proxima mission, ESA’s tablet-based app called EveryWear allows astronauts to record their calorie and nutrient intake by selecting items from a list or scanning barcodes on food packaging.

ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli uses the Everywear app

ESA Biomedical Engineer Andreas Lundt is part of the team behind the app and says further features – such as an advanced search function – will be implemented for ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano’s Beyond mission, with more development to come.

“Right now, data is sent for analysis to a nutritional specialist on the ground who provides nutritional reports and recommendations to the astronauts, but for missions to the Moon and Mars this would take way too much time,” he explains.

“Our goal is for the app to do this itself. It may say ‘OK, you’re low in iron, you need to eat more green vegetables’ then present options from the database that meet this nutritional need.”

A sustainable future

A mission to Mars will take two to three years minimum. And, with no resupply vehicles available to replenish astronaut provisions, food either needs to go the distance or be grown in space.

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst installs a new closed loop life support system

Alexander recently installed ESA’s new Advanced Closed Loop System in NASA’s Destiny Lab on the Space Station. This system recycles carbon dioxide, turning it into oxygen and reducing the need to extract it from water sent from Earth.

ESA is also working to finely tune how microbiological cells, chemicals, catalysts, algae, bacteria and plants interact, and how we could process waste to deliver never-ending fresh supplies of oxygen, water and food. It is all part of ESA’s vision for greater sustainability in space and on Earth.

Related links:

Human Spaceflight: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight

International Space Station (ISS): http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/International_Space_Station

CNES: https://cnes.fr/en

MEDES Institute for Space Physiology and Medicine: http://www.medes.fr/en/index.html

Proxima mission: https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Proxima

Beyond mission: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Astronauts/Luca_Parmitano_goes_Beyond

EveryWear: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Astronauts/Diet_tracker_in_space

Images, Text, Credits: ESA/NASA.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Hubble Moving Closer to Normal Science Operations

NASA - Hubble Space Telescope patch.

Oct. 22, 2018

NASA took great strides last week to press into service a Hubble Space Telescope backup gyroscope (gyro) that was incorrectly returning extremely high rotation rates. The backup gyro was turned on after the spacecraft entered safe mode due to a failed gyro on Friday, Oct. 5. The rotation rates produced by the backup gyro have since reduced and are now within an expected range. Additional tests will be performed to ensure Hubble can return to science operations with this gyro.

A gyro is a device that measures the speed at which the spacecraft is turning, and is needed to help Hubble turn and lock on to new targets.

A wheel inside the gyro spins at a constant rate of 19,200 revolutions per minute. This wheel is mounted in a sealed cylinder, called a float, which is suspended in a thick fluid. Electricity is carried to the motor by thin wires, approximately the size of a human hair, that are immersed in the fluid. Electronics within the gyro detect very small movements of the axis of the wheel and communicate this information to Hubble’s central computer. These gyros have two modes — high and low. High mode is a coarse mode used to measure large rotation rates when the spacecraft turns across the sky from one target to the next. Low mode is a precision mode used to measure finer rotations when the spacecraft locks onto a target and needs to stay very still.

NASA's & ESA's Hubble Space Telescope. Image Credits: NASA/ESA

In an attempt to correct the erroneously high rates produced by the backup gyro, the Hubble operations team executed a running restart of the gyro on Oct. 16. This procedure turned the gyro off for one second, and then restarted it before the wheel spun down. The intention was to clear any faults that may have occurred during startup on Oct. 6, after the gyro had been off for more than 7.5 years. However, the resulting data showed no improvement in the gyro’s performance.

On Oct. 18, the Hubble operations team commanded a series of spacecraft maneuvers, or turns, in opposite directions to attempt to clear any blockage that may have caused the float to be off-center and produce the exceedingly high rates. During each maneuver, the gyro was switched from high mode to low mode to dislodge any blockage that may have accumulated around the float.

Following the Oct. 18 maneuvers, the team noticed a significant reduction in the high rates, allowing rates to be measured in low mode for brief periods of time. On Oct. 19, the operations team commanded Hubble to perform additional maneuvers and gyro mode switches, which appear to have cleared the issue. Gyro rates now look normal in both high and low mode. 

Hubble then executed additional maneuvers to make sure that the gyro remained stable within operational limits as the spacecraft moved. The team saw no problems and continued to observe the gyro through the weekend to ensure that it remained stable.

The Hubble operations team plans to execute a series of tests to evaluate the performance of the gyro under conditions similar to those encountered during routine science observations, including moving to targets, locking on to a target, and performing precision pointing.  After these engineering tests have been completed, Hubble is expected to soon return to normal science operations.

Hubble is managed and operated at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Related articles:

Update on the Hubble Space Telescope Safe Mode:
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2018/10/update-on-hubble-space-telescope-safe.html

Hubble in Safe Mode as Gyro Issues are Diagnosed:
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2018/10/hubble-in-safe-mode-as-gyro-issues-are.html

For more information about Hubble, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

Image (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Felicia Chou.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Genetics, Vision and Earth Studies Aboard Station Today

ISS - Expedition 57 Mission patch.

October 22, 2018

Three Expedition 57 crew members are orbiting Earth today researching RNA sequencing and eye health aboard the International Space Station. The trio from the U.S., Germany and Russia also replaced combustion research hardware and activated Earth observation gear.

Image above: The International Space Station was orbiting 257 miles above the English Channel when this photograph was taken of the Northern European countries of Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Poland. Japan’s H-II Transfer Vehicle-7, or HTV-7 resupply ship, is pictured at right attached the Harmony module. Image Credit: NASA.

Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor from NASA is helping scientists identify microbes and understand how their genetics change in space. She extracted and processed microbial samples today from swabbed station surfaces for later genetic sequencing using specialized hardware. Results will also help researchers observe how life adapts to the weightlessness of microgravity.

Auñón-Chancellor then observed and photographed samples for a protein crystal study to help doctors improve the development of disease-treating drugs. She then joined Commander Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency) for eye scans with an ultrasound device to learn how long-term missions affect vision.

International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA

Gerst started his day in the U.S. Destiny lab module replacing hardware inside the Combustion Integrated Rack that enables gas and flame studies. He later wrapped up the workday photographing how quartz and clay particles sediment in space.

Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos worked inside the Unity module setting up Earth photography gear for the long-running EarthKAM experiment. The study enables school students to remotely operate the station digital camera to photograph and download imagery of Earth landmarks such as coastlines and mountains.

Related links:

Expedition 57: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition57/index.html

Genetic sequencing: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7687

Protein crystal study: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7729

Combustion Integrated Rack: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=317

Quartz and clay particles: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7668

EarthKAM: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=87

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Image (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

NASA's First Image of Mars from a CubeSat

NASA - MarCO Mission patch.

Oct. 22, 2018

Image above: One of NASA's twin MarCO spacecraft took this image of Mars on October 2 -- the first time a CubeSat, a kind of low-cost, briefcase-sized spacecraft -- has done so. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

NASA's MarCO mission was designed to find out if briefcase-sized spacecraft called CubeSats could survive the journey to deep space. Now, MarCO – which stands for Mars Cube One – has Mars in sight.

One of the twin MarCO CubeSats snapped this image of Mars on Oct. 3 – the first image of the Red Planet ever produced by this class of tiny, low-cost spacecraft. The two CubeSats are officially called MarCO-A and MarCO-B but nicknamed "EVE" and "Wall-E" by their engineering team.

A wide-angle camera on top of MarCO-B produced the image as a test of exposure settings. The MarCO mission, led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, hopes to produce more images as the CubeSats approach Mars ahead of Nov. 26. That's when they'll demonstrate their communications capabilities while NASA's InSight spacecraft attempts to land on the Red Planet. (The InSight mission won't rely on them, however; NASA's Mars orbiters will be relaying the spacecraft's data back to Earth.)

This image was taken from a distance of roughly 8 million miles (12.8 million kilometers) from Mars. The MarCOs are "chasing" Mars, which is a moving target as it orbits the Sun. In order to be in place for InSight's landing, the CubeSats have to travel roughly 53 million miles (85 million kilometers). They have already traveled 248 million miles (399 million kilometers).

Image above: One of NASA's twin MarCO spacecraft took this image of Mars on October 2 -- the first time a CubeSat, a kind of low-cost, briefcase-sized spacecraft -- has done so (annotated image). Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

MarCO-B's wide-angle camera looks straight out from the deck of the CubeSat. Parts related to the spacecraft's high-gain antenna are visible on either side of the image. Mars appears as a small red dot at the right of the image.

To take the image, the MarCO team had to program the CubeSat to rotate in space so that the deck of its boxy "body" was pointing at Mars. After several test images, they were excited to see that clear, red pinprick.

"We've been waiting six months to get to Mars," said Cody Colley, MarCO's mission manager at JPL. "The cruise phase of the mission is always difficult, so you take all the small wins when they come. Finally seeing the planet is definitely a big win for the team."

For more information about MarCO, visit: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cubesat/missions/marco.php

Related links:

CubeSats: http://www.nasa.gov/cubesats/

Small Satellite Missions: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/smallsats

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Jon Nelson.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Space Station Science Highlights: Week of Oct 15, 2018

ISS - Expedition 57 Mission patch.

Oct. 22, 2018

Last week, three Expedition 57 crew members stayed busy aboard the International Space Station after the climb to orbit of two crewmates was aborted in early October. The trio in orbit continued science and maintenance aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Image above: This week, as a part of the Plant Habitat-1 investigation, activities were performed to measure chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of growing plants. Image Credit: NASA.

Last week the crew studied fluid dynamics, crystallography, ways to improve crew sleeping habits, and battery life in space. Read more for details about this week’s science:

SPHERES investigations soar through the station as crew members conduct tests

Three free-flying, bowling-ball sized spherical satellites know as Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SPHERES), used inside the space station to test a set of well-defined instructions for spacecraft performing autonomous rendezvous and docking maneuvers, are used for a variety of investigations aboard the orbiting lab.

Animation above: NASA astronaut Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor conducts test runs for the SPHERES Tether-Slosh investigation. Animation Credit: NASA.

The SPHERES Tether Slosh investigation combines fluid dynamics equipment with robotic capabilities aboard the station. In space, the fuels used by spacecraft can slosh around in unpredictable ways making space maneuvers difficult. This investigation uses two SPHERES robots tethered to a fluid-filled container covered in sensors to test strategies for safely steering spacecraft such as dead satellites that might still have fuel in the tank.

Last week, crew members performed test runs of the investigation’s test points. Learn more about the SPHERES program here: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/students_spheres_satellites

Space-grown crystals optimize research in space

International Space Station (ISS). Image Credit: NASA

A crew member used pipettes to mix varying viscosity solutions into the crystallization plates for BioServe Protein Crystallography (BPC-1) last week. BPC-1 seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of conducting protein crystal growth in real time aboard the space station. Crew members can observe crystal formation and adjust for follow-on experiments. This approach optimizes a scientist’s ability to grow crystals in microgravity without having to wait for samples to return to Earth and re-launch.

Investigation tests adjustable lighting options to encourage better sleep

The hazards of lost sleep can range from on-the-job errors to chronic disease. Every day people all around the world experience disruptions in circadian rhythm, or the body’s natural regulator for sleep and wake cycles based on a 24-hour schedule. This instinctual process can be disrupted by abnormal work schedules, extensive traveling between time zones, and by daily life for space station crew members, who could experience 16 sunrises a day.

The Lighting Effects investigation studies the impact of the change from fluorescent light bulbs to solid-state light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with adjustable intensity and color and aims to determine if the new lights can improve crew circadian rhythms, sleep, and cognitive performance.

Image above: This week, power and data umbilical cables, as well as fluid and waste gas umbilicals, were mated in preparation for LSR activation in November. Image Credit: NASA.

Last week, crew members performed a numerical and color discrimination visual test at a designated location. Information collected during this investigation could be used to develop more efficient lighting both in space and on Earth. Learn more about adjusting to sleep disruptions, on ground and in space, here: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/astronauts_improve_sleep

Investigation studies battery life in space

Last week, the crew tested a sampling of alkaline batteries as a part of the Zero-g Battery Testing investigation. Some crewmembers have reported that batteries on orbit do not last as long as they do on the ground. In this investigation, crew members install several sets of batteries into a standard camera flash, identify batteries that fail to work, and return them to the ground for analysis. Results from this investigation could lead to development of better batteries for use in space and on the ground.

Other work was done on these investigations:

- Food Acceptability examines changes in how food appeals to crew members during their time aboard the station. Acceptability of food – whether crew members like and actually eat something – may directly affect crew caloric intake and associated nutritional benefits: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7562

- BCAT-CS studies dynamic forces between sediment particles that cluster together: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7668

- The Cold Atom Lab produces clouds of atoms that are chilled to much colder temperatures than the average temperature of deep space. At these low temperatures, atoms have almost no motion, allowing scientists to study fundamental behaviors and quantum characteristics that are difficult or impossible to probe at higher temperatures: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7396

- Radi-N2 measures neutron radiation levels aboard the orbiting laboratory using Space Bubble Detectors: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=874

- The Life Support Rack captures carbon dioxide from cabin air and recovers 50% of its oxygen for use by the crew: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7751

- JAXA LT PCG contributes to the development of new drugs by revealing disease-related protein structure, and to the production of new catalysts for the environmental and energy industries: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2031

Space to Ground: A Successful Failure: 10/19/2018

Related links:

Expedition 57: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition57/index.html

SPHERES: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=303

SPHERES Tether Slosh: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7381

BioServe Protein Crystallography (BPC-1): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7729

Lighting Effects: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2013

Zero-g Battery Testing: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7712

Spot the Station: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Animations (mentioned), Video (NASA), Text, Credits: NASA/Michael Johnson/Vic Cooley, Lead Increment Scientist Expeditions 57/58.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Superflares From Young Red Dwarf Stars Imperil Planets

NASA - Hubble Space Telescope patch.

Oct. 22, 2018

The word "HAZMAT" describes substances that pose a risk to the environment, or even to life itself. Imagine the term being applied to entire planets, where violent flares from the host star may make worlds uninhabitable by affecting their atmospheres.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is observing such stars through a large program called HAZMAT — Habitable Zones and M dwarf Activity across Time.

"M dwarf" is the astronomical term for a red dwarf star — the smallest, most abundant and longest-lived type of star in our galaxy. The HAZMAT program is an ultraviolet survey of red dwarfs at three different ages: young, intermediate, and old.

Image above: Violent outbursts of seething gas from young red dwarf stars may make conditions uninhabitable on fledgling planets. In this artist's rendering, an active, young red dwarf (right) is stripping the atmosphere from an orbiting planet (left). Scientists found that flares from the youngest red dwarfs they surveyed — approximately 40 million years old — are 100 to 1,000 times more energetic than when the stars are older. They also detected one of the most intense stellar flares ever observed in ultraviolet light — more energetic than the most powerful flare ever recorded from our Sun. Image Credits: NASA, ESA and D. Player (STScI).

Stellar flares from red dwarfs are particularly bright in ultraviolet wavelengths, compared with Sun-like stars. Hubble's ultraviolet sensitivity makes the telescope very valuable for observing these flares. The flares are believed to be powered by intense magnetic fields that get tangled by the roiling motions of the stellar atmosphere. When the tangling gets too intense, the fields break and reconnect, unleashing tremendous amounts of energy.

The team has found that the flares from the youngest red dwarfs they surveyed — just about 40 million years old — are 100 to 1,000 times more energetic than when the stars are older. This younger age is when terrestrial planets are forming around their stars.

Approximately three-quarters of the stars in our galaxy are red dwarfs. Most of the galaxy's "habitable-zone" planets — planets orbiting their stars at a distance where temperatures are moderate enough for liquid water to exist on their surface — likely orbit red dwarfs. In fact, the nearest star to our Sun, a red dwarf named Proxima Centauri, has an Earth-size planet in its habitable zone.

However, young red dwarfs are active stars, producing ultraviolet flares that blast out so much energy that they could influence atmospheric chemistry and possibly strip off the atmospheres of these fledgling planets.

"The goal of the HAZMAT program is to help understand the habitability of planets around low-mass stars," explained Arizona State University's Evgenya Shkolnik, the program's principal investigator. "These low-mass stars are critically important in understanding planetary atmospheres."

The results of the first part of this Hubble program are being published in The Astrophysical Journal. This study examines the flare frequency of 12 young red dwarfs. "Getting these data on the young stars has been especially important, because the difference in their flare activity is quite large as compared to older stars," said Arizona State University's Parke Loyd, the first author on this paper.

The observing program detected one of the most intense stellar flares ever observed in ultraviolet light. Dubbed the "Hazflare," this event was more energetic than the most powerful flare from our Sun ever recorded.

"With the Sun, we have a hundred years of good observations," Loyd said. "And in that time, we've seen one, maybe two, flares that have an energy approaching that of the Hazflare. In a little less than a day's worth of Hubble observations of these young stars, we caught the Hazflare, which means that we're looking at superflares happening every day or even a few times a day."

Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Animation Credits: NASA/ESA

Could super-flares of such frequency and intensity bathe young planets in so much ultraviolet radiation that they forever doom chances of habitability? According to Loyd, "Flares like we observed have the capacity to strip away the atmosphere from a planet. But that doesn't necessarily mean doom and gloom for life on the planet. It just might be different life than we imagine. Or there might be other processes that could replenish the atmosphere of the planet. It's certainly a harsh environment, but I would hesitate to say that it is a sterile environment."

The next part of the HAZMAT study will be to study intermediate-aged red dwarfs that are 650 million years old. Then the oldest red dwarfs will be analyzed and compared with the young and intermediate stars to understand the evolution of the ultraviolet radiation environment of low-mass planets around these low-mass stars.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, in Washington, D.C.

For more information about Hubble, visit:

http://hubblesite.org/
http://www.nasa.gov/hubble
http://www.spacetelescope.org/

Image (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Karl Hille/Space Telescope Science Institute/Ann Jenkins/Ray Villard/Arizona State University/Evgenya Shkolnik.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Zooming in on Mexico’s landscape

ESA - Sentinel 2 Mission logo.

22 October 2018

As part of a scientific collaboration with the Mexican Space Agency and other Mexican scientific public entities, ESA has combined images from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission to produce a detailed view of the different types of vegetation growing across the entire country.

Sentinel-2

The high-resolution land-cover map combines images captured by Copernicus Sentinel-2 between 2016 and 2018.

Sentinel-2 is a two-satellite constellation built for the EU’s Copernicus environmental monitoring programme. Each identical satellite carries a multispectral imager that can distinguish different types of vegetation and crops. It can also be used to determine numerous plant indices such as the amount of chlorophyll and water in leaves to monitor changes in plant health and growth.

Mapping Mexico’s land cover

The mission has a myriad of uses, one of which is to provide information to map land cover so that changes in the way land is being used can be monitored.

Thanks to this Copernicus mission and to ESA’s Climate Change Initiative Land Cover project, Mexico’s land cover has been mapped at a resolution of 10 m.

Land-cover mapping breaks down the different types of material on Earth’s surface, such as water bodies, different forms of agriculture, forests, grasslands and artificial surfaces.

This information is important for understanding changes in land use, modelling climate change, conserving biodiversity and managing natural resources.

This is a valuable source for scientific studies and practical applications alike.

Central America land cover

Daniela Jurado from Mexico’s National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity said, “Having access to such a detailed map is not only useful for scientific research such as understanding fluxes associated with the carbon cycle, but also for managing our natural resources and for conserving biodiversity.”

“It is also important for land-use management and for monitoring urban expansion.”

Alejandra Aurelia López Caloca, from the Center for Research in Geospatial Information Sciences added, “Indeed, this new map reveals a lot about our country. It is very helpful for studying the growth of cities and how rural areas are transitioned into urban environments. In addition, it is going to be a real help to understand where bodies of water are highly dependent on precipitation and to pinpoint those areas that are at risk of flooding.

“The new map allows us to identify the status land cover, specifically the agricultural kind so this will really help us understand how our land is being farmed.”

ESA has been coordinating global land cover maps since 2002 through its GlobCover and Climate Change Initiative Land Cover projects at a resolution of 300 m. But with the Copernicus Sentinel-2 pair now in orbit, land cover can be mapped at a resolution of 10 m.

In the same vein, a land-cover map of Central America is also now available.

Related links:

Sentinel-2: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-2

Copernicus: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus

ESA's Climate Change Initiative: http://cci.esa.int/

Climate Change Initiative 10 m viewer:

Mexico land cover: http://2018mexicolandcover10m.esa.int/

Mexican Space Agency: https://www.gob.mx/aem

Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity: https://www.gob.mx/conabio

Center for Research in Geospatial Information Sciences: https://www.centrogeo.org.mx/

National Council on Science and Technology: https://www.conacyt.gob.mx/

UC Louvain: https://uclouvain.be/en/index.html

Brockmann Consult: http://www.brockmann-consult.de/

ESA Earth observation science for society: https://eo4society.esa.int/

Images, Text, Credits: ESA/Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2016–18) processed by ESA–CCI Land Cover Project/UC Louvain/Brockmann Consult/ATG medialab.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch