Europe's eyes in the sky report back to base
Six EU-supported research projects which have developed new earth observation techniques for managing the environment reported back to base at the beginning of October when scientists presented the fruits of their work to a gathering of researchers and officials in Brussels. These projects are the first funded under the EU's Environment and Climate research programme (part of the Fourth Framework Programme, 1994-98) in the area of earth observation that are now complete. They were designed to help improve understanding of the quality of water, air and land - locally, regionally and globally. The projects presented covered: how altimetry can aid climate forecasting; monitoring marine pollution; using earth observation to assess the health of Europe's forests; the PELCOM project, which should result in an 'updateable' map of Europe with a 1km resolution; evaluations of the impact of UV radiation; and ozone monitoring. The scientists also took this opportunity to present the 'user-products' developed through their work, and discussed how opportunities in the EU's Fifth RTD Framework Programme might help to strengthen Europe's involvement in a global earth observation monitoring system.