Discover ESA’s Earth observation satellites, their cutting-edge instruments, and the essential variables they measure—all from your web browser! When Eversis set out to enhance the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Earth Online Visuals website, it turned to Design&Data to help bring their vision to life.
Challenge
Eversis approached Design&Data with a clear yet ambitious goal: create nine photorealistic 3D renderings of ESA’s Earth Observation mission satellites. As well as examples of their data applications while accommodating strict technical constraints. The satellite models needed to be under 15MB each to ensure smooth performance on the web, but still allow for the exploration of each of the key instruments on board. While the data visualisations had to seamlessly integrate a variety of complex datasets into an engaging, interactive 3D globe.
For some satellites, 3D references were available, but for others, there were only photo renderings, posing a significant challenge in creating accurate 3D models.
Idea, solution
Design and Data embraced this challenge with a blend of creativity and innovation:
- 3D Modelling: The team developed nine highly detailed 3D satellite renderings, incorporating separate meshes for each instrument. This enabled website users to zoom in and explore the intricate components of the satellites.
- Data Visualization: Using diverse data sources in formats such as Hi5 and netCDF, D&D crafted consistent and visually captivating 2D projections that were dynamically mapped onto a spherical representation of the Earth.
While ensuring all models and visualisations remained lightweight for web performance without sacrificing quality.
Result
The Earth Online Visuals website now provides a highly interactive experience, allowing users to explore ESA’s Earth Observation missions, zoom into different satellite instruments and witness data applications projected on a 3D globe.
Visit the ESA Earth Online Visuals website to explore this incredible project first-hand and see how design and data can bring the mysteries of space closer than ever before!