In late 2020, ESA and EGU opened a competition for two awards in Earth observation excellence. The awards are aimed towards researchers in the early phases of their career who have made an outstanding contribution to the innovative use of Earth observation data primarily from European satellites. Two types of awards were advertised: a team and an individual award.

Following the nomination and selection process, a panel of high-standing Earth observation scientists reviewed the 40 nominations and judged the nominees according to the following categories: excellence in science, excellence in innovation, impact in the field of Earth observation and potential for future Earth observation contributions.

ESA and EGU are delighted to announce Benoit Meyssignac, a scientist working in the field of ocean remote sensing at France’s National Centre for Space Studies and the Laboratory for Studies in Geophysics and Spatial Oceanography, as the winner of the individual award. Benoit Meyssignac is an internationally renowned expert in the development and analysis of satellite altimetry and space gravimetry observations used to tackle fundamental climate science questions.

The Hydrology Team of the National Research Council – Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection has won the team award. The team, consisting of Luca Brocca, Stefania Camici, Luca Ciabatta, Christian Massari and Angelica Tarpanelli, has a profound expertise in hydrological and hydraulic modelling by using satellite and ground-based sensors. The research team has carried out pioneering studies on the assimilation of satellite soil moisture products into hydrological modelling.

ESA’s Director General, Josef Aschbacher, who initiated the award during his time as ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, commented, “We would like to congratulate you on this extraordinary recognition and are sure that you will continue to pioneer European Earth observation scientific achievements in the future.

“We initiated this first ESA-EGU Excellence Award in September 2020 to give young scientists working in Earth observation the opportunity to make their work more visible to the community. It will continue to be a platform to push new technologies and innovations in Earth observation in a wider context.”

EGU President Alberto Montanari also honoured the award winners. He said, “EGU would also like to congratulate these outstanding scientists. Their innovative research techniques are helping to usher in a major transformation in Earth observations, which will help create new opportunities for scientific research as well as business applications.”

The awards will be presented at the virtual EGU General Assembly prize ceremony, which will be held on 19 April at 18:00 CET. Details about how to join this event will be provided closer to this date.