EUs Earth Observation and Monitoring Programme: Copernicus (full, free and open)
Description
Copernicus is the European Programme for the establishment of a European capacity for Earth Observation and Monitoring and is coordinated and managed by the European Commission. The Copernicus information services address six thematic areas: land, marine, atmosphere, climate change, emergency management, and security. The 2016 Communication from the Commission on ‘the Space strategy for Europe’ refers to the importance of the stability of the Union´s space programme and long term commitment which means 1) continuity and enhanced continuity of the current data and Copernicus services, 2) continuity of the full, open and free data and information policy.
Copernicus contributes to the following general objectives:<br />
(a) monitoring the Earth to support the protection of the environment and the efforts of civil protection and civil security;<br />
(b) maximising socio-economic benefits, thereby supporting the Europe 2020 strategy and its objectives of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth by promoting the use of Earth observation in applications and services;<br />
(c) fostering the development of a competitive European space and services industry and maximising opportunities for European enterprises to develop and provide innovative Earth observation systems and services;<br />
(d) ensuring autonomous access to environmental knowledge and key technologies for Earth observation and geoinformation services, thereby enabling Europe to achieve independent decision-making and action;<br />
(e) supporting and contributing to European policies and fostering global initiatives, such as GEOSS.<br />
<br />
The Copernicus programme provides, thanks to its full, free and open data and information policy a cost-effective solution that can help countries worldwide addressing efficiently their development challenges.<br />
<br />
Copernicus can support countries in their reporting to the UN system (globally comparable) and additionally, a country can tweak itself the data and information to make it nationally and sub-nationally relevant using local/regional/national information. <br />
<br />
The integration of statistics, geospatial information, Earth observations, and other sources of Big Data, combined with new emerging technologies, analytics and processes, are becoming a fundamental requirement for countries to measure and monitor local to global sustainable development policies and programs”<br />
<br />
UN GGIM CHAIRS - http://eohandbook.com/sdg<br />
<br />
Copernicus transforms information from multiple sources, including satellites, into operational services for keeping watch over the planet Earth’s land, ocean and atmosphere, monitoring climate change, supporting European emergency management and safeguarding civil security.<br />
<br />
The 6 Copernicus Services rely on many environmental measurements collected by data providers external to Copernicus, from ground-based, sea-borne or air-borne monitoring systems, as well as geospatial reference or ancillary data, collectively referred to as “in situ” data.<br />
The Copernicus In Situ Component maps the landscape of in situ data availability, identifies data access gaps or bottlenecks, supports the provision of cross-cutting data and manages partnerships with data providers to improve access and use conditions.
Copernicus is the most advanced Earth Observation and Monitoring System in the world. The implementation have been recently reviewed for its mid-term evaluation described hereunder Mid-term evaluation of the Copernicus programme (2014-2020)
https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/1/2017/EN/COM-2017-617-F1-…
From the success of its data provision infrastructure, to the accuracy of the data distributed according to a free, full and open data policy, to the huge potential for commercial applications, Copernicus has already shown its value and earned recognition for the EU on the international scene. It supports policies and applications in climate change and environment, maritime safety and security, agriculture, disaster management, urban planning and infrastructure. It helps civil authorities to save lives in emergency circumstances, such as earthquakes, forest fires or floods. The programme fosters international cooperation and contributes to global initiatives like the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS).
The data gathering activity is efficient: high quality satellites have been successfully deployed on time and on budget, supplying high quality imaging. The performance is clear proof of a competitive European Space industry capable to deliver.
Copernicus is not only the world's largest single Earth Observation programme, but by incorporating Copernicus Services knowledge generation into its architecture it became a pole of Earth Observation-related scientific and operational expertise which has become a true European success story. By responding to evolving user needs with its timely and reliable geo-information products, Copernicus has been able to dynamically adapt to rapidly evolving challenges and to the European political landscape, for example tackling with its Climate Change Service the foremost environmental challenge facing Europe and the world as a whole.
Copernicus new thresholds of data and information production and processing provoked a paradigm shift in Earth Observation big data domain. The associated challenges have been addressed by engaging with state-of-the-art solutions in building a digital economy. The original concept of Copernicus foresaw a provision of data serving primarily the needs of the Copernicus services and this objective has been achieved with great success. New user needs have however emerged, calling also for large-scale access to and exploitation of direct Sentinel data, at various timeliness and processing levels. In response to this user need the Commission is planning a programme evolution to add a robust big data provision system.
The five DIAS online platforms allow users to discover, manipulate, process and download Copernicus data and information. All DIAS platforms provide access to Copernicus Sentinel data, as well as to the information products from Copernicus’ six operational services, together with cloud-based tools (open source and/or on a pay-per-use basis).
Each of the five competitive platforms also provides access to additional commercial satellite or non-space data sets as well as premium offers in terms of support or priority. Thanks to a single access point for the entire Copernicus data and information, DIAS allows the users to develop and host their own applications in the cloud, while removing the need to download bulky files from several access points and process them locally.
https://www.copernicus.eu/en/access-data/dias
Looking to the future on the basis of the present evaluation, continuity and sustainability of services and observation data will be absolutely critical for the lasting success of Copernicus. The long-term stability of the programme and its free, full and open data policy must be ensured in order to provide predictability and planning certainty for businesses and users. Copernicus is and should remain a user-driven programme. Its future evolution must keep up with the evolving requirements of the users and the paradigm shifts in the Earth Observation sector globally. In line with the Space strategy adopted in 2016, the Commission should plan a long-term vision for the programme, in order to give visibility and predictability to all partners in Copernicus, allowing them to invest, benefit and support, especially considering the shifting priorities of the programme.
Copernicus is a great opportunity for Europe. It offers a huge potential for innovation, growth and jobs. With Copernicus the European industry has a unique opportunity to become a leader in a global fast growing market. The next years will therefore be crucial to consolidate the achievements and prepare the future adapting to the changing reality of the programme
https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/1/2017/EN/COM-2017-617-F1-…
What makes Copernicus unique as a Programme to address the SDGs and International Conventions? Copernicus : <br />
1. User and Policy Driven<br />
2. Long-term sustained commitment<br />
3. Full free and open data and information Policy<br />
4. Strong international dimension<br />
5. Operational data production and Service delivery<br />
6. Broad cross-domain product portfolio<br />
7. Open to new needs and requirements<br />
8. Responsive to new technologies and research<br />
The Copernicus programme provides, thanks to its full, free and open data and information policy a cost-effective solution that can help countries worldwide addressing efficiently their development challenges.<br />
Copernicus can support countries in their reporting to the UN system (globally comparable) and additionally, a country can tweak itself the data and information to make it nationally and sub-nationally relevant using local/regional/national information. <br />
Continuity and long-term sustainability of the Copernicus programme as well as its full, free and open data and services information policy are crucial.
SDGS & Targets
Deliverables & Timeline
Resources mobilized
Partnership Progress
Feedback
Action Network
Share
Timeline
Entity
Region
- Europe
Geographical coverage
Website/More information
Countries
Contact Information
Lucian Parvulescu, Policy Officer