May 04, 2016
Media representatives are invited to the Living Planet Symposium for the latest results from Europe’s satellites and achievements of ambitious Earth observation initiatives.
Held on 9–13 May at the Prague Congress Centre, Czech Republic, the event brings together more than 3000 scientists and users from across the globe to present their latest findings on Earth’s environment and climate derived from satellite data.
The versatility of ESA’s Earth Explorer missions will be the main focus. The three missions in orbit are CryoSat, SMOS and Swarm. Over the past few years they have been providing new information on Earth’s cryosphere, soil moisture and ocean salinity, and magnetic field, respectively.
The Sentinel satellites have also played a major role in monitoring our environment and ensuring civil protection through Europe’s ambitious Copernicus programme. Four Sentinels have already been launched, and their data are being used to map and monitoring Earth’s changing lands, oceans, ice and atmosphere.
Results from ESA’s Envisat and ERS heritage missions, as well as from satellites flown by national space agencies, will also be featured in the week-long programme.
Programme
The latest results from ESA’s missions and overview of the Earth Observation and Copernicus programmes will be presented during the opening plenary session on Monday, 9 May, 10:30–12:00 CEST, followed by a 30 minute press briefing.
10:30–12:00 CEST
• Welcome address by the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Bohuslav Sobotka
• Welcome address by Johann-Dietrich Woerner, ESA Director General
• An introduction to ESA’s Earth Observation Programmes by Volker Liebig, Director of ESA’s Earth Observation Programmes
• Highlights of Earth Explorer scientific results by Wolfram Mauser, Chairman of ESAC
• Address by the Czech Minister of Transport, Dan Tok
12:00–12:30 CEST
• Media questions and answers session
The full technical programme will follow after the opening plenary session, and is open to media. Full programme at: lps16.esa.int