Four new research projects that address gaps in the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) have been added to the staple of ESA’s Climate Change Initiative (CCI). The collective focus of the projects is the generation of high-quality, long-term global climate data records, primarily derived from Earth Observation satellites and supplemented by ground-based and other supporting data. With new space-based observations available, they are expanding the suite of multi-mission records as a major contribution to a sustained and fit for purpose GCOS, while also supporting the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and operational service providers.
The new projects - Land Evaporation, Ocean Surface Heat Flux, Phytoplankton Biomass and Diversity (PHYTO-CCI), and Sea Ice Age and Drift (SAGE) - have been chosen based on user requirements from CCI’s scientific and operational stakeholders, complementing the portfolio of Essential Climate Variables (ECVs). ECVs are physical, chemical, and biological indicators identified by the GCOS as fundamental for tracking and understanding Earth’s climate. With these additions, the CCI is now addressing more than 28 ECVs through dedicated research.
Drawing on decades of continuous satellite measurements, these records offer consistent and comprehensive coverage, enabling researchers and policy makers to strengthen understanding of key aspects of the climate, identify trends and provide early warning of change. All datasets will be openly accessible and validated, available through the CCI Open Data Portal.
The Projects at a Glance
Land Evaporation
Delivering the first long-term, high-resolution global dataset of land evaporation, this project will provide observation records for a variable with a key role in the water, carbon, and energy cycle, regulating water availability and acting as a natural cooling mechanism that influences ecosystems, agriculture, and human societies. Land evaporation also modulates extreme events such as droughts and heatwaves.
Despite its critical importance, land evaporation remains one of the most uncertain variables of the global water cycle. The resulting dataset will help detect trends, improve our understanding of the global water cycle, and strengthen the scientific basis for climate policy and water management strategies.
The main records to be developed cover: plant transpiration, bare soil evaporation, interception loss, latent heat flux, and sensible heat flux.
Ocean Surface Heat Flux
To support our understanding of Earth’s energy balance and climate change, this project is developing new data records for total ocean surface heat flux (OSHF). Unlike existing products, this record will be derived from fundamental energy conservation principles and changes in ocean heat content within the upper ocean layer. Accurate OSHF estimates are crucial for closing the ocean energy budget, improving climate models, and tracking progress toward the 2015 UN Paris Climate Agreement targets on limiting global warming. The project addresses key knowledge gaps identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and supports GCOS requirements for improved estimates of latent and sensible heat fluxes.
Phytoplankton Biomass and Diversity (PHYTO-CCI)
To improve our knowledge of the structure and function of marine ecosystems, their role in the Earth system, and how they may be affected by global warming and other human-driven impacts, this project generates satellite-based data products for phytoplankton carbon biomass and pigment diversity. Phytoplankton plays a central role in the climate system, absorbing 50 billion tonnes of carbon per year through photosynthesis, as much as all land plants combined. The data products will equip scientists to better monitor marine ecosystem health and the ocean's role in climate regulation, supporting both climate research and marine ecosystem services.
Sea Ice Age and Drift (SAGE)
Spanning the satellite era from the late 1970s to the present, researchers produce the first consistent, long-term Climate Data Records for sea-ice age and sea-ice drift. Sea ice plays a critical role in the polar climate system, influencing ocean circulation, heat exchange, and ecosystems. Understanding sea-ice age and drift is essential for assessing past and future changes in polar regions and evaluating climate model performance. The project will develop a hybrid sea-ice-age algorithm and explore machine learning techniques to improve classification under challenging conditions, adding new observation requirements to the Sea Ice ECV.
To integrate the scientific community, the project team will demonstrate usage of the datasets in scientific case studies as well as provide the final products via the CCI Open Data Portal.