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About EarthCODE
EarthCODE is ESA’s strategic initiative to bring its vision of openness in EO science, applications and industry, and of a sustainable open innovation ecosystem. It integrates 1) the Open Science Catalog, making it effortless to discover novel research outcomes from ESA Science Clusters activities; 2) access to commercial platform services; and 3) a wealth of community resources and tools that help maintain data and research quality.
EarthCODE is closely related to its sister initiative APEx which aims to operationalize scientific algorithms. Where EarthCODE focuses on open data and workflows - APEx focuses on taking some of these to the next level as scalable services.
Together these initiatives drive ESA’s efforts on Earth Action - the actionable use of Earth Observation data for the benefit of society - from research to policy.
EarthCODE's Vision
Modern Earth system science faces complex challenges that demand collaborative, transparent, and reproducible approaches. At the heart of this transformation is the convergence of FAIR principles (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability), Open Science, and Open Innovation—all of which create unprecedented opportunities for scalable, cross-sector research and decision-making.
To effectively address pressing societal challenges, researchers must be able to work across the entire science lifecycle. This requires modern, powerful, and interoperable infrastructure that can support diverse Earth Observation (EO) data types, facilitate data-intensive workflows, and enable trusted knowledge generation. This infrastructure for open science empower scientists to (1) Access and process satellite and in-situ data in collaborative cloud environments, (2) Develop and publish reusable code and workflows, (3) Validate outputs and share reproducible results, and (4) Collaborate across institutional, disciplinary, and national boundaries.
The Open Science and Innovation Vision outlined in ESA’s Earth Observation Science Strategy (2024) defines eight foundational pillars to achieve this:
- open research data,
- open-source scientific code,
- open access to scientific publications with data and code,
- standards-based discovery of scientific experiments,
- reproducible workflows across platforms,
- accessible education and training on open science,
- collaborative community practices, and
- EO business models based on open technologies.
ESA's strategic objective is to foster the development of a culture and practice of openness in EO science, applications and industry, and of a sustainable open innovation ecosystem.
EarthCODE is ESA’s strategic initiative to bring this vision to life. Originally starting as a simple repository for datasets from ESA-funded projects, it has since grown into a comprehensive environment that supports the full open science lifecycle—from data and workflow development to publication and community engagement.
What is Open Science? Open Science is just science done right. Open Science is a movement to make the entire research process more accessible and reproducible, including input data, analysis methods, results, and the dissemination and reception of those results.
Our Mission, Vision and Goals
Mission statement:
Our mission is to develop an open-source solution that empowers scientists to adopt FAIR and Open Science principles, whether conducting research on cloud environments accessible via the EarthCODE Portal or their own infrastructure. To maximise the discovery and reuse of FAIR scientific data, workflows, and documentation, we develop EarthCODE as a hub for research management, dissemination, community engagement, and learning.
Vision statement:
To accelerate scientific discovery and support Earth Action by making Earth science data and methods FAIR, Open, and reproducible. Leveraging cutting-edge cloud computing technologies, AI, and open-source solutions, we empower collaboration and innovation for a sustainable future.
Goals overview:
EarthCODE is designed to deliver a user-centric, advanced open science environment tailored to the needs of EO scientists. By focusing on usability and engagement, EarthCODE ensures researchers can efficiently conduct FAIR, reproducible, and sustainable Earth Science research within the ESRIN Science Hub and ESA Science Clusters.
Roadmap
The EarthCODE platform is constantly evolving, with its roadmap regularly updated to include new enhancements. Stay tuned for more data offerings and upcoming services soon.