How we do Earth observation
Earth observation satellites play a major role in achieving our science goals. We manage Britain's £50m Earth observation budget. We spend around £42m on developing new missions and instruments with the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. We are responsible for subscription to two Earth observation programmes with ESA:
- Earth Observation Envelope Programme (EOEP). This is the science and research element of ESA's Living Planet Programme.
- Envisat - the world's largest Earth observation satellite.
We contribute to ESA's mandatory general budget, along with the Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS) and the Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC).
We use part of our budget (£6-7m) on Earth observation centres of excellence. These centres are responsible for developing new techniques for exploiting Earth observation data and for training Earth observation specialists.
Many of our other research centres, collaborative centres and programmes use Earth observation data but are not part of our Earth observation programme. At least half of our consortium grant holders use Earth observation data.
ESA Earth observation programmes
We manage the UK's contribution to the European Space Agency's (ESA) Earth
observation programme (£40m each year).
The British
National Space Centre (BNSC)
NERC is a partner in the UK space programme, co-ordinated by the British National Space Centre.
