“Copernicus” is the European Union's Earth Observation Program, through which our planet and its environment are monitored, for the benefit of all European citizens. It provides information services based on satellite Earth observation and in situ data (non-space data).
Through “Copernicus” services, the vast abundance of satellite and in situ data is transformed into valuable information, as data is processed and analyzed.
One of Copernicus' services is ground monitoring (CLMS). It provides geographical information on the land cover and its changes, land use, vegetation status, water cycle and land surface energy variables to a wide range of users in Europe and worldwide, in the field of environmental land applications.
It supports the applications in various areas, such as spatial and urban planning, forest management, water management, agriculture and food security, nature conservation and restoration, rural development, ecosystem accounting and mitigation of adaptation to change climate.
The service is provided jointly by the European Environment Agency and the Joint Research Center of European Commission (JRC) and has been operational since 2012.
It consists of five main components:
The systematic monitoring of biophysical parameters gives essentially a series of qualified biogeophysical products for the condition and development of the surface of the earth. They are produced globally in every ten days with average spatial resolution and complemented by long-term time series. The products are used to monitor vegetation, crops, water cycle, energy budget and terrestrial variables of the cryosphere.
The mapping of land cover and land use leads to the creation of land cover classifications with varying degrees of detail, both in a Pan-European and global context. At the Pan-European level, they are complemented by detailed layers of land cover features, such as sustainability, forests, grasslands, water and humidity, small forest elements. Globally, mapping of the earth follows the FAO modular-hierarchical classification system.
The thematic mapping of “hot spots” aims to provide tailored, more detailed information on specific areas of interest known as “hot spots”. The "hot spots" in the context of the “Copernicus” Earth Monitoring Service are prone to specific environmental challenges.
Images and reference data provide a mosaic of high and very high resolution satellite images and reference datasets. This includes, on the one hand, a satellite mosaic of contributing missions spanning Europe, as well as a worldwide mosaic of Sentinel-2 images. On the other hand, it consists of reference datasets providing homogeneous Pan-European coverage of some key geospatial topics, such as hydrography and altitude.
In addition to the above mentioned elements, a new European activity on ground motion is in the process of being created. The activity will measure the movement of the earth's surface, including landslides and collapses, as well as deformations of the infrastructure.
