The atmosphere plays a vital role in making the Earth habitable, including shielding us from harmful UV electromagnetic radiation, holding the air we breathe, and helping keep Earth at the necessary temperature for maintaining a good supply of liquid water – thus making life possible on our planet. In order to assess the condition of the atmosphere, and to study its evolving complexity, it is important to monitor the status of, and changes in, atmospheric properties - such as chemical composition, temperature, pressure, wind speed and wind direction. Earth observation techniques provide the opportunity to collect global measurements of such parameters, and is therefore essential to monitoring and forecasting our weather, and to improving our understanding of atmospheric science, especially climate change.

This video will introduce you to some of the ways in which we can assess atmospheric properties using EO data collected by satellites. Dr Angela Benedetti will explore why it is vital that we measure a range of atmospheric parameters, and will explain how such Earth observations are advancing our understanding of the atmosphere and its role in the climate system.

Featured Experts:

• Dr Angela Benedetti

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• Meteosat-10

Don’t forget you can download the video, transcript and take any quizzes available with the links on the right.