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Environmental information systems
Copernicus is a European Earth observation programme for monitoring our planet and its environment for the benefit of Europe’s citizens.
The Copernicus programme collects and transforms data from multiple sources (i.e. satellites and in-situ (non-space) measurements) into operational services to provide information about the earth’s land, oceans and atmosphere, and to monitor climate change, support European emergency management, and safeguard civil security.
Copernicus has three components:
The space component includes the Sentinel satellites and other contributing satellite missions, which provide data to the Services component.
The services component transforms the data collected by the Space and In-Situ components into reliable and up to date information in six thematic areas: land, marine, atmosphere, climate change, emergency management and security.
The In-Situ component maps the in-situ data landscape, ensures data accessibility and provides cross-cutting data as a support to the other two components.
EEA and Copernicus
Through a Contribution Agreement with the European Commission, the EEA coordinates Copernicus’ Land Monitoring Service (CLMS) and In-Situ Component.
Copernicus Land Monitoring Service
The Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (CLMS) has been jointly implemented by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) since 2012.
CLMS provides geographical information relevant for a broad range of environmental terrestrial applications, including land cover characteristics and changes, land use, vegetation state, water cycle and Earth surface energy variables.
CLMS products
- Priority area monitoring
- Land cover and land use mapping
- Biophysical parameters
- Image mosaics, in-situ and reference data
- European ground motion service
Application of CLMS products
- Spatial and urban planning
- Forest management
- Agriculture and food security
- Nature conservation and restoration
- Ecosystem accounting
- Climate change mitigation
Copernicus in-situ component
The Copernicus In-Situ Component is implemented collectively by the Copernicus Services and the EEA.
The In-Situ Component maps the landscape of available in-situ data (i.e. ground-based, sea-borne and air-borne environmental measurements), identifies gaps or bottlenecks in data access, supports the provision of cross-cutting data and manages partnerships with data providers to improve access and use conditions. The EEA has a coordinating role, and intervenes in cases where a coordinated approach to accessing in-situ data is required at a programmatic level, i.e., where efficient data provision requires interventions that go beyond the capacities of the individual Services.