Introduction

ESA's Earth Explorer satellite missions are scientific satellite missions that aim to improve our understanding of Earth system processes and dynamics. These missions focus on specific aspects of Earth's environment and climate system.

To date ten Earth Explorer (EE) research missions have been approved for development. Two of these, GOCE and Aeolus, have already completed their missions, while SMOS, CryoSat, Swarm and EarthCARE are currently in operation. EE7 Biomass is set to launch soon, while EE8 FLEX, EE9 FORUM and EE10 Harmony are in development. 

In this UCM, these two candidate Earth Explorer missions will presented to the Earth observation scientific community by their respective scientific and technical teams. UCM participants will have the opportunity to learn about both missions and to ask questions and to provide critical feedback. The presentations and feedback provide input to the recommendation and decision-making process that will ultimately lead to the final selection of one mission to proceed to full development.

Both of these innovative missions aim to provide valuable insights into various aspects of our Earth system. A brief introduction to each candidate mission is provided below:

CAIRT, seeks to unravel the intricate connections between circulation and composition throughout the middle atmosphere, and the role they play in climate forcing and feedbacks. By tomographic imaging of many atmospheric trace gases and wave imprints at unprecedented spatial resolution, CAIRT will enhance our understanding of global atmospheric dynamics, chemistry, and transport of greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances. The mission will further explore the coupling of our atmosphere with space weather and help to constrain climate impacts by stratospheric aerosols.

WIVERN, will provide the first space-based observations of in-cloud winds, addressing a major gap in the global observing system. In addition, it will measure the properties of mesoscale cloud and precipitation systems, including vertical motions and the three-dimensional distribution of ice mass. These observations will significantly advance our understanding of the processes involved in the formation, organisation, and lifetime of cloud systems, ranging from tropical cyclones to polar lows and low-level marine clouds. Furthermore, as demonstrated through data assimilation, WIVERN observations will greatly improve the representation of the initial state of the atmosphere in the numerical weather prediction model, and hence the quality of weather forecasts. 

These two candidate missions represent groundbreaking opportunities to advance our understanding of Earth system processes. You are encouraged to join this User Consultation Meeting in Prague to learn more about these ground-breaking Earth Explorer candidate missions, and to engage in discussions which contribute to the final selection decision.

We invite you to register and participate in the EE11 UCM, to learn more about the process behind the selection of ESA’s Earth Explorer research satellite missions. Please note, we encourage physical attendance to stimulate active participation and interaction. The deadline for registration is Friday, 27 June 2025.