Full Title: ESA Data Policy for ERS, Envisat and Earth Explorer Missions, ESA/PB-EO(2010)54
Adopted: October 2012

The ESA Data Policy for ERS, Envisat and Earth Explorer Missions follows the established objective of these missions, i.e. “to maximise the beneficial use of the Earth observation data provided and to maintain a balanced use of these data for a variety of applications, be it scientific, for public good or commercial.” ESA Earth observation data from the ERS, Envisat and Earth Explorer missions are available on an open and non-discriminatory basis. The data are split into two major groups: the free data set and the restrained data set. Access to the free data set for all types of use is granted upon electronic on-line registration and the user accepting the ESA Terms and Conditions, with immediate on-line access to the datasets thereafter. The restrained data, however, are not systematically processed and made available online. Access to those data is initiated by the submission of a project proposal to ESA, allowing ESA to assign a maximum quota for product delivery.