Final Report Summary - EUGENE (Improving coordination, visibility and impact of European GEOSS contributions by establishing a European Geoss Network)
Executive summary:
International cooperation is not an end in itself; it requires additional efforts and resources. In the domain of Earth Observation (EO), though, the benefit of international cooperation is clear: requirements, systems and applications are often global by nature and sharing the burden is reasonable. This is why Europe - its Member States (MS) and the European Commission (EC) - has made a commitment to the objectives of the Group on EOs (GEO). By using its strengths, capabilities and investments to substantially contribute to the build-up and successful operation of the Global EO System of Systems (GEOSS) for the benefit of humankind, Europe is one of the cornerstones of this global endeavour. This serves Europe's policies in the fields of environment, energy, disaster management, development aid and climate. Furthermore, these efforts support major United Nations (UN) conventions and promote Europe's role in international efforts to adapt to global change and manage natural resources in a sustainable way.
To be a strong and capable partner in the framework of GEO, Europe's mission is to define and realise the contributions to GEOSS by leveraging European operational EO programmes, research and development (R&D) programmes and relevant coordination activities. Maximum efforts are needed to achieve progress within the 2012-2015 timeframe, which corresponds to the GEOSS implementation plan.
The current status and challenges of European EO for three areas of European political priority (climate, disasters and water) have been thoroughly analysed. In general, Europe is well advanced in many areas and even a world leader in various respects. However, sustained operation of the necessary EO infrastructure and improved access to and exchange of data and information is of paramount importance for the societal benefit from EO.
Based on the analyses conducted for climate, disasters and water, respectively and on numerous discussions held with European experts and EO stakeholders, proposals for a European approach to GEO are being made. Concrete recommendations are provided; either related to topic-specific issues or cross-cutting aspects, such as appropriate user engagement, European coordination etc.
The Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme is expected to be a critical framework for achieving a strong European contribution to GEOSS. This is valid not only for satellite-based observations, where the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites Eumetsat provide suitable mechanisms, but also for ground-based networks through the GMES in-situ component coordinated by EEA.
The full and timely implementation of GMES will contribute considerably to the successful realisation of GEOSS. Additionally, the best use of GEOSS for Europe can be made within GMES. Thus, it is important to carefully define their relationship.
The European Meteorological Infrastructure (EMI) also contributes considerably to GEOSS, by its own programmes and by bringing its vast experience and infrastructure into GMES. For achieving sustained in-situ observations, the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) is another important framework and the Inspire directive sets associated geodata interoperability specifications and data access conditions highly relevant to GEOSS.
The explicit funding of projects dedicated to GEOSS in the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) context has been highly successful in improving European participation in GEO. This should be continued in the new 'Horizon 2020' framework and integrated with research dedicated to GMES. Other European research and development (R&D) mechanisms should also make explicit reference to GEOSS.
With its undisputed strengths and capacities in EO, its user engagement structures and capacity building programmes, Europe can be a strong partner in GEO. However, building on its existing assets, Europe needs to enhance coordination, intensify communication activities and leverage the political profile of GEO to raise the efficiency and effectiveness of the European GEOSS contribution.
Project context and objectives:
The EC, supported by MS and relevant European Organisations, has been leading the coordination of European GEOSS contributions by various means, such as:
1. acting as European co-chair in GEO and representing Europe in the GEO Executive Committee and all other GEO Committees, working groups and task forces together with other European Members;
2. establishing and organising the European Union (EU) GEO High Level Working Group (HLWG) as the European GEO coordination and information forum at administrative level;
3. gathering European inputs for the GEO Work Plan and other documents;
4. introducing GEOSS related criteria for EU FP7 co-funded projects;
5. organising events, such as the GEO European project workshops.
Whereas the EC-led and well established frameworks of GMES, Inspire and FP7 allow for structured and reliable coordination of European GEO contributions among the multiple actors within those frameworks, there are numerous other highly GEO-relevant European activities and actors that lack this level of coordination, both between each other and with GMES, Inspire and FP7 activities. Clearly, there is room for improvements regarding the overall impact, visibility and variety of European contributions to GEO at the global level. Presently, the European GEO component does not fully reflect the excellence and importance that European EO capabilities have in the international arena. This has been repeatedly recognised at several occasions, e.g. by the EU GEO HLWG and has triggered the need to come to a more strategic European GEO approach.
Against this background, the EUGENE project was started in October 2009 - a two-year Support Action funded under FP7 for Research and Technological Development. EUGENE stands for 'Improving coordination, visibility and impact of European GEOSS contributions by establishing a European Geo Network'.
The main objective of the EUGENE project was to foster collaboration between pan-European organisations in the field of EO and to strengthen the coordination of national and regional programmes and organisations in their work towards GEO. A process was to be started that should eventually lead to GEO oriented collaboration fora or mechanisms. The ultimate target of this process is to build a coordinated and sustained European EO system component as part of GEOSS, consisting of atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial sub-components using in-situ, remote and space-based observation techniques and related modelling components.
An important short term goal of EUGENE was to contribute to a coherent European representation at the GEO Ministerial Summit which took place in November 2010 in Beijing.
On a longer timescale, the EUGENE project had the objective to consolidate the European perspectives on GEO and to establish relevant coordination processes. These activities were to be instrumental to concluding a comprehensive European GEO strategy based on the work that had already been started by the HLWG. Therefore, EUGENE proposed a European GEO approach for selected GEO societal benefit areas (SBAs) and GEOSS cross-cutting issues, namely data and architecture, capacity building, user engagement and science and technology, with special attention to the relationship between GEOSS and GMES, FP7, Inspire and the programmes of ESA, Eumetsat, the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) etc.
EUGENE had a limited scope in addressing European activities and actors in three SBAs which correspond to European political priorities, namely climate, disasters and water. The initial EUGENE activities centred on determining the status quo of European EOs in the areas of Climate, Water and Disasters, respectively and to make available comprehensive reports. Then, three workshops were organised to review these reports and to discuss with European experts the strengths, existing gaps and challenges as well as future opportunities concerning European EO activities and their relationship to GEO. Additional meetings with major European players, such as the EC GMES Bureau, EEA, ECMWF and the European GEO HLWG further added to the overall understanding of issues to be addressed and their possible solutions.
The results of all these activities form the basis for proposals for a further refined European approach towards GEO. These proposals have been made available to the European GEO community. A final publication (see http://www.eugene-fp7.eu/documents.htm online) was prepared to present the results and recommendations of the EUGENE project along with some showcase examples of successfully coordinated projects and European EO systems.
The overall goal related to the EUGENE project was to contribute to a process which will ultimately lead to a strong and sustainable European GEOSS component for the benefit of the whole GEO community and, of course, for Europe itself. This process needs a lot of time and has to be taken further after the lifetime of the project. EUGENE's intention was to provide the EU GEO High-Level Working Group and all European GEO stakeholders with proposals for a European GEO approach and concrete ideas on how to achieve further progress to reach the overall goal within the 2012 to 2015 timeframe determined by the GEOSS 10 year implementation plan.
Project results:
Challenges
The three GEO SBAs covered by the EUGENE project, climate, disasters and water, represent great challenges to the world population which are interlinked with each other. There are a number of challenges related to more than one SBA, if not to all of them. Consequently, in order to achieve the vision for a GEOSS widely and efficiently utilised by users worldwide, there are a number of cross-cutting targets to be aimed at, as defined by GEO (GEO Strategic Targets by 2015):
1. Architecture: Achieve sustained operation, continuity and interoperability of existing and new systems that provide essential environmental observations and information, including the GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI) that facilitates access to and use of, these observations and information.
2. Data management: Provide a shared, easily accessible, timely, sustained stream of comprehensive data of documented quality, as well as metadata and information products, for informed decision-making.
3. Science and technology: Ensure full interaction and engagement of relevant science and technology communities such that GEOSS advances through integration of innovations in EO science and technology, enabling the research community to fully benefit from GEOSS accomplishments.
4. User engagement: Ensure critical user information needs for decision-making are recognised and met through EOs.
5. Capacity building: Enhance the coordination of efforts to strengthen individual, institutional and infrastructure capacities, particularly in developing countries, to produce and use EOs and derived information products.
From a European perspective, there is a need to contribute to the solution of both the SBA-specific challenges mentioned above and the challenges posed by cross-cutting issues, as defined by GEO, in order to achieve a strong and sustained European GEOSS component. Additionally, there is a general need to intensify coordination and outreach measures within Europe to effectively foster the fulfilment of the GEO strategic targets and to achieve a strong and sustained European role and visibility within GEO.
Europe's capabilities to respond
Europe has substantial capabilities and strengths to respond to the challenges outlined above, to contribute effective EO systems to a global system of systems and to support the establishment of GEOSS with sophisticated infrastructures, scientific knowledge and experience with user-driven approaches and capacity building. In the following, these capabilities are briefly outlined for climate, water, disasters and the before-mentioned cross-cutting issues, respectively. Much more comprehensive information is provided in the EUGENE status quo reports (see http://www.eugene-fp7.eu/documents.htm online).
Europe's capabilities to respond to the climate challenge:
Europe is very well positioned to respond to this challenge with world-class capabilities and systems, e.g. through:
1. Systematic meteorological observation networks (both in-situ and space) together with the associated long-term archives, with in-situ records extending over one hundred years in some cases and satellite records spanning over 30 years;
2. Long-term, operational programmes designed to ensure continuity of meteorological satellite observations;
3. Extensive modelling capabilities addressing inter alia Earth system processes, reanalysis and climate prediction and projections;
4. Long-term commitments by operational agencies to generate and maintain climate data records;
5. Research and development investment in observing systems (which in some cases are the forerunners of operational systems);
6. Commitment by the European Community to address climate issues through the use of research funding.
This extensive range of capabilities and systems is underpinned by and draws strength from, Europe's strong political will to address climate issues. Europe is also well integrated in the key international frameworks. These key frameworks are, in turn, closely connected to the implementation of relevant GEO climate tasks and targets. This strategic participation by European organisations in international frameworks is augmented by strong, individual, contributions from European countries. For example, a large number of national institutions are engaged in international cooperation. The role of national institutions is particularly significant in the provision of in-situ data due to the strong dependence on national infrastructures for in-situ data collection and a significant number of the international in-situ data centres are hosted by national institutions within Europe.
Europe's capabilities to respond to the water challenge:
There are prominent examples of European EO capabilities and expertise in the water sector, such as:
1. The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) as a legal basis for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), international cooperation and data exchange, especially for transboundary river basins;
2. Several pan-European EO data archives that contain information on water quality and water quantity for European freshwater, e.g. Water Information System for Europe (WISE), European Water Archive (EWA);
3. Operational hydrological networks established and maintained by European National Hydrological Services (NHS);
4. Remote sensing technologies that deliver relevant hydrological parameters, e.g. ESA's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite (SMOS) and the future GMES Sentinel missions.
Several European programmatic frameworks contribute to the goals of GEO in the water sector. In the field of EO and spatial information, two flagship programmes have been developed in Europe: GMES and the Inspire Directive. Both initiatives aim at establishing long-term, sustainable frameworks in their specific fields and are thus a major contribution of Europe to GEOSS.
Also European engagement in capacity building for EOs through dedicated programmes such as PUMA, EUMETCast, TIGER/ AMESD and various national European projects is a European strength. Europe has developed widespread capabilities in EO that are contributing to the implementation of key international frameworks such as the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), the Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS), the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) and the Hydrology and Water Resources Programme (HWRP).
Europe's capabilities to respond to the disasters challenge:
Substantial European developments and contributions to GEO are provided in the framework of the European initiative on GMES. The GMES Emergency Response Services are being developed in several projects in the context of EU research and technological development (RTD) framework programmes and ESA GMES projects. Important contributions are currently being made by the EU FP7 project SAFER. GMES provides emergency mapping services for situation analysis and damage assessment as well as reference mapping services to support preparedness and risk assessment. High priority is given to the quality assurance and validation of the services. The future GMES Sentinel Missions will provide continuing satellite resources for the GMES services.
Moreover, European services are provided on an operational basis e.g. by the Joint Research Centre of the EC, such as the European Flood Alert System (EFAS), the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), or the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS). The Global Fire Monitoring Centre (GFMC) provides a global portal for wild-land fire monitoring based on a worldwide network of cooperating institutions.
In the field of spatial information Europe is implementing the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE) programme to build up standards and rules for a consistent geodata infrastructure. Inspire establishes the legal framework and technical implementing rules, which could form a substantial basis for the GEOSS GCI.
Europe's capabilities to respond to the cross-cutting challenges:
Regarding Architecture and Data Management, which will be covered together in the following, the EMI has, over decades, developed a very well-functioning user-driven architecture. EMI provides sustained operations of EO systems and service continuity while being gradually upgraded and well integrated in the relevant international cooperation frameworks.
GMES as an emerging large-scale infrastructure programme has entered its initial operations phase, while some important aspects, such as data sharing, partnership with EMI, organisation of the in-situ component and embedding in the international scene have not yet been fully defined.
The ESFRI also has the potential to become an important framework supporting GEOSS. At the same time, Europe is well advanced in implementing geodata interoperability specifications and data sharing regulations through the EU Inspire directive.
ESA with its R&D capacities and Eumetsat as the operational organisation for climate and meteorology are central pillars of the European space-based EO architecture and are fully connected with GMES and the European meteorological programmes. They are crucial supporters of the Committee of Earth Observing Satellites (CEOS), the space component of GEOSS. ESA is responsible for the GEO Portal and through this also contributes significantly to the GEOSS GCI.
Related to Science and Technology, the explicit inclusion of GEOSS into the policy framework of FP7 and the related funding of dedicated projects has been highly successful in improving European participation and visibility in GEO Tasks. Other R&D funding mechanisms, while also having great potential to make contributions, do not make explicit reference to GEOSS, with the result that interaction of related activities with GEOSS is hampered. Thus, there is further potential to be exploited in order to connect European scientific expertise with the development of GEOSS.
There are numerous studies and databases available on European user requirements, most of them established and maintained by the large scale operational EO programmes, such as GMES and the EMI. These programmes also include mature (EMI) or emerging (GMES) user engagement structures with strong European and national focus, but no particular global view.
Europe also is strongly engaged in capacity building for EO through dedicated programmes. Moreover, the GMES Africa Action Plan is currently being developed. Due to this wide expertise, Europe is well positioned to support GEO in this important task, especially on the African continent.
Improved European response in the framework of GEO
In the following, a number of recommendations are provided resulting from the work of the EUGENE project, i.e. based on comprehensive status quo studies undertaken and discussions with European experts and GEO stakeholders at numerous workshops and meetings. These recommendations can also be found in a EUGENE strategic issues synthesis paper and the final project publication 'A European approach to GEO' (both available at http://www.eugene-fp7.eu/documents.htm online).
Improved European response for climate:
To increase and sustain Europe's already prominent contributions to international Climate frameworks, the following recommendations are made:
1. Strengthen the overall European contribution to the GEO Climate SBA by targeting some specific activities with secure, long-term, funding. The future GMES climate change service, as an overarching framework for European climate activities, should be implemented in a way that both adds value and is compatible with existing frameworks. Potential areas to be addressed by the GMES climate change service include maintain, extend and strengthen terrestrial and oceanic in-situ networks, filling remaining regional gaps and improving access to in-situ data; create long time series climate data records and take measures for data rescue and homogenisation (with a particular focus on in-situ data); construct long time series of essential climate variables based on satellite data, where possible; implement standards for metadata documentation; make provision for regular reanalysis cycles.
2. MS to better ensure coordination among the relevant major European organisations to maximise the effectiveness and efficiency of the extensive European activities in climate monitoring in the international arena. Notwithstanding the successful inter-agency coordination mechanism that exists among EC, Eumetsat and ESA, there is a further need to ensure coordination among all relevant European actors, namely ESA, Eumetsat, ECMWF, the European Meteorological Network (Eumetnet), EC etc. The importance of this coordination is underscored by the funding provided by MS to individual European organisations. Enhanced coordination among such organisations, driven by MS, is fundamental for improving the efficiency of European activities in the high-priority area of climate and climate change.
Improved European response for water:
To further improve Europe's contributions and visibility in the framework of GEO, there is a need to improve coordination and sustained observation of water cycle components, remove obstacles to sharing hydrological data and facilitate monitoring and continuous assessment of the status of water resources. Additionally, Europe intends to offer its expertise to GEO partners to develop capacity in the use of EO in different parts of the world. The following recommendations are formulated to achieve the above mentioned European targets and to close gaps in the European water sector.
1. Improve coordination of GEOSS-related hydrological activities in Europe. Europe has developed extensive capabilities and expertise in the water sector through the engagement of various pan-European organisations and MS. However, Europe is also facing a certain fragmentation of institutions involved in environmental monitoring of the water cycle, which mainly originates from the thematic diversity of the areas affected by water and the associated institutional responsibilities. GEOSS offers itself as an overarching framework for Europe to establish a pan-European coordination process in the water area to better link existing EO activities at European and national levels. Since GEOSS addresses key international players and initiatives, such a pan-European process related to GEOSS may serve to coordinate Europe's contributions to the implementation of international frameworks. Therefore, it is recommended to establish links between the European GEO HLWG and existing European expert groups in the water sector as coordination platforms for European GEOSS activities. Many EU MS contribute to international hydrological efforts via their membership in different working groups on European and international levels. These groups are a potential overarching framework for MS within which they can organise their involvement in GEOSS and improve coordination on a national level. The WMO Working Group on Climate and Hydrology (WG-CH) within the Regional Association VI (Europe) could be used by MS as a platform for GEOSS-related technical discussions and cooperation. It is recommended to consider establishing a formal link and regular exchange between the WG-CH and European GEO stakeholders in the Water SBA and making use of the WG-CH as a European coordination entity in the water sector with links to the HLWG.
2. Establish a coordinated European presence in the GEO Water SBA. Coordinated, concrete action at the implementation level is needed to bring forward Europe's position within GEOSS. Participation in relevant GEO Work Plan Tasks and committees enables the exchange of expertise and the establishment of links with international partners. Strong European participation in the Water SBA will help to identify observational gaps and to develop solutions based on European capabilities. One way to achieve this would be to establish a European regional subgroup under the GEO Integrated Global Water Cycle Observations (IGWCO) Community of Practice One, which supports the implementation of activities in the Water SBA. This community features regional subgroups which address regional aspects related to the deployment of integrated observations of water cycle components. A regional community of practice provides an ideal forum for the European water community to identify water-related user requirements, to increase the visibility of European EO capabilities and to use opportunities for Europe at the global level. It generally enables European organisations to exchange ideas, increase cooperation with relevant international actors and contribute to the implementation of the water SBA. It is recommended to improve the coordination of European contributions to GEO Water Tasks by conducting regular European GEO task workshops. Relevant European activities need to be better communicated at the GEO task level. The development of the GMES in-situ component by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the GMES Africa Action Plan are extremely important processes in this context. Participation of European stakeholders and project coordinators in GEO Water Tasks is an efficient way to achieve coordinated contributions.
3. Develop coordinated, targeted observations of the global water cycle and assure a proper European 'branding'. The closure of observational gaps is an important step toward achieving the Strategic Target of the water SBA. On a global scale, this can only be achieved by a joint, coordinated effort of the international EO community. Europe has developed extensive capabilities in the water sector, such as operational hydrological networks, pan-European archives of water related information, monitoring and early warning systems for hydro-meteorological hazards and expertise in the development of hydrogeological maps of continental scale. To promote this aim intensive support for the deployment of remote sensing technologies for hydrological applications is needed. Europe is contributing successfully to the development of remote sensing technologies for hydrological applications and should intensify international cooperation in the GEOSS framework. For example, the CEOS has established different virtual constellations (VC), which address certain EO requirements through the combined, overlapping use of different satellite systems as a contribution to the implementation of the GEO Work Plan. Europe should provide suitable technology (e.g. ESA's SMOS satellite) to the VCs and support the development of a VC for hydrology. In addition to the registration of EO components in the GEOSS GCI, Europe should use strategic opportunities to provide dedicated components to specific water SBA tasks. The task framework facilitates international coordination and increases the visibility of European contributions.
4. Foster the exchange of hydrological data. Restrictive and complex data policies still pose a major obstacle for the exchange of hydrological data. With the recently adopted GEOSS Data Sharing Principles (DSP), GEO intends to facilitate the exchange of EO data on the global level. It is therefore recommended that the implementation of GEOSS Data Sharing Principles be supported in the European MS. Three major European frameworks for (hydrological) data exchange contribute to the development of GEOSS: the Inspire Directive, the WISE as part of the planned 'Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS)' and the GMES programme. European stakeholders are also deeply involved in the efforts of international standardisation organisations such as ISO and OGC. To facilitate the exchange of hydrological data, efforts to develop specifications and standards for data formats and interfaces should be made in the context of international standardisation activities, such as the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Hydrology Domain Working Group. Especially, existing INSPIRE-related standards need to be taken into consideration. Working towards the compatibility of Inspire and the GEOSS Data Sharing Principles should be of high priority. Through the Inspire process, Europe has acquired considerable experience in the field of spatial data standards and infrastructure development, which must be brought into the GEO process in a coordinated way. Furthermore, it is important to enable access to the WISE database through the GEOSS GCI. In addition to the registration of components such as WISE in the GEOSS Registry, interoperability of available information systems and direct access through the GCI should be sought.
Improved European response for disasters:
Europe contributes to the GEO disasters SBA with a variety of services and products, mainly through the GMES Emergency Response Service and the European Meteorological Infrastructure. Additionally, European entities significantly contribute to international mechanisms like the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters and UN-Spider. However, there is a need to intensify European efforts to achieve the GEO strategic target for the disasters SBA and to increase collaboration among these mechanisms for the benefit of both the international partners and Europe itself. To achieve this, a number of recommendations were developed within the project.
1. Support improved international cooperation in EO based emergency response. Cooperation among and harmonisation of services using EO data to provide information for disaster management should be improved at the global level. While the activation mechanism of services in case of disasters is well advanced and the acquisition of and access to satellite data through mechanisms such as the International Charter on Space and Major Disaster has been considerably improved, deficiencies still remain in global coordination among service providers in the case of major disasters. This was very apparent in the case of the Haiti earthquake of 2010, when a large amount of EO-based disaster information (several hundred products) had been produced by several service providers. These products differed in quality and contained redundant and sometimes even contradictory information. As a result, users found it difficult to identify the most reliable product. Thus, it is necessary to develop best-practice emergency mapping guidelines and provide users with clear indications about information quality and uncertainty, along with the product itself. In this respect, Europe can draw on the results and significant experience gained in the context of GMES and other disaster-related projects and activities. In addition, mechanisms of the European GMES Emergency Response Service (ERS) and of international activities like the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters, Sentinel Asia, SERVIR, UN SPIDER and GEO should be harmonised to optimise the benefit for users. GEO could serve as a platform to improve the link between relevant stakeholders such as data providers, service providers, scientists and end users. European organisations involved in disaster management should actively participate in relevant activities in the frameworks of GEO and the UN to discuss best practice solutions for emergency mapping, information exchange and an improved worldwide coordination of activities. Strong commitment to GEOSS expressed by integrating the GMES ERS and disasters-related FP7 projects increases Europe's visibility at the international level. Based on experience with the good collaboration among the European members of the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters and the pre-operational GMES ERS project SAFER, cooperation should be further promoted while the operational ERS is being implemented. Good communication and collaboration between both mechanisms will avoid a waste of resources in cases of parallel activities. In addition, mutual benefits can be achieved, e.g. by dividing the workload in cases of extreme disasters, data sharing where possible/appropriate and providing GMES rapid-mapping capacities to the Charter in cases of Charter activations with relevance to European users or policies.
2. Facilitate access to in-situ data and their integration into all stages of disaster management. Access to space-based EO data on European and international levels has been considerably improved through coordination by ESA, EUMETSAT and international partners and initiatives, e.g. the International Charter. Access to in-situ data, however, still remains difficult and is not yet harmonised and operationally implemented, although appropriate in-situ data is essential for disaster management and risk assessment. On-going activities, such as the GMES in-situ coordination (GISC) project led by the European Environment Agency (EEA), aim at achieving easy and open access to in-situ data in the GMES framework. Most in-situ data sets exist on the national level, so a search for up to date information is time-consuming. Especially during the emergency response phase, fast access is required. In addition, these data sets are of different levels of quality. Availability and interoperability of data relevant for all stages of disaster management should be improved by linking and harmonising national data collections and national, European and international networks, as far as possible. On a European level, the EEA is establishing the GMES in-situ component by making use of existing networks and extending their functionality, interoperability and sustainability through its current work within the GISC project. Ways for the best possible incorporation of these networks into GEOSS should be sought and an extension to a user-friendly worldwide 'net of networks' would serve the needs of all actors operating in the field of disaster management. While there is a GEO work plan task especially dedicated to the 'Use of Satellites for Risk Management', no similar task has been assigned to deal with in-situ data. Europe should make an effort to promote the creation of an additional work plan task dedicated to improved access to in-situ data for disaster management. Subsequently, possible European contributions, especially from the GISC project, should be analysed and promoted within GEO.
3. Improve organisational links and interaction between existing forecasting services and emergency response services to facilitate fast and efficient reaction in case of a disaster. The interaction between forecast services (e.g. meteorological services) and emergency response services should be improved. Especially for hydrometeorological hazards a number of operational forecasting and early warning systems exist in Europe, e.g. the European Flood Alert System (EFAS). In order to improve reaction time the emergency response mapping services should establish closer links to these forecast services. European forecasting systems and GMES should analyse ways to beneficially cooperate in emergency response (sharing relevant information, finding means for rapid data exchange, etc.) and the means to implement them. Often, restricted data policies pose major problems. The data of some forecasting services are only available to a limited user group (mainly national authorities), due to restrictions imposed by the MS. While links between different forecasting services do exist, e.g. co-operation agreement between the joint research centre (JRC) and ECMWF in order to use ECMWF's meteorological forecasts as input for the flood forecasts provided by EFAS, there are currently none to GMES Emergency Response Services. Representatives from forecasting and emergency response services as well as from MS should jointly aim to establish the necessary structures and procedures for better cooperation. Exchange of data in this case does not imply free and open access to the general public, but an exchange between the different services.
4. Promote the establishment of global early-warning systems and missing services
The GEO 2009-2011 Work Plan Task 'Warning Systems for Disasters' specifically deals with global early-warning systems for tsunamis and wildland fires, while other hazards are not yet being targeted. Through the experiences gained in establishing existing systems such as EFFIS and EFAS, as well as EUMETNET's Meteoalarm and ECMWF's medium-range weather forecasts and Extreme Forecast Index (EFI), Europe could greatly contribute to the establishment and operationalisation of a global 'Early-Warning System of Systems'. This system should not replace existing ones, but serve as a platform consolidating information from different systems dealing with the same hazard. Furthermore, important synergies could be generated by bringing together systems dealing with different hazards (e.g. use of common communication networks, procedures or institutional frameworks). Europe should support this work by incorporating its systems like EFFIS and EFAS. While Europe has advanced forecasting services for hydro-meteorological hazards, operational systems for other hazard types such as landslides and volcanoes do not exist. Also a lack of ground movement services, important for preparedness with regard to geohazards, has been identified. Efforts should be made to close gaps of coverage within Europe and on a global scale, especially in developing countries (e.g. within the GMES and Africa initiative).
5. Improve benefits of Earth-Observation based disaster management products through capacity building
So as to use disaster management products in a beneficial way, users need to be trained. This is especially important for early-warning systems where short reaction time and reliable warnings are highly important to ensure their effectiveness. Furthermore, decision makers need to be made aware of existing products and services. The 2010 Pakistan floods showed that not necessarily the lack of appropriate data, but rather ignorance about its existence, hinders effective disaster management. Meteorological data as well as the ECMWF EFI indicated exceptionally strong rainfall six days before the flooding. The EFI was available to the Pakistani authorities and additional, more precise data would have been provided upon request. Thus, training stakeholders is vital, so they know how to access, interpret and utilise data to best benefit from available observation systems. The capacity building tasks within GEO are appropriate platforms and European service providers should actively contribute to their success. In addition, by registering its services and products in GEOSS, Europe could increase their visibility and make them more widely known.
Improved European response for cross-cutting issues:
In the field of architecture and data management, there is the need to achieve sustained operation and continuity of GMES and other major European contributions, interoperable with and accessible to the GEOSS Common Infrastructure. Observations and products of documented high quality should be subject to full and open exchange for the mutual benefit of all parties. In order to accomplish these goals, the following actions are proposed:
1. Provide relevant European key activities with secure long-term funding to both serve European and internationally agreed requirements. Many relevant EO activities are currently funded within existing frameworks for research, whereas others are planned as operational systems. In many cases there is the risk of a disruption of continuity. Thus, achieving the transfer of activities from R&D to sustained operational activities secured by long-term budgets is a major challenge at global and European levels and a precondition for most of the applications benefitting from EO. A major example is GMES, which faces the challenge of being transferred from initial to full operations. The continuity of Eumetsat's Polar System is another near-term example.
2. Implement within GMES a key framework for European GEOSS contributions as part of the international GMES cooperation strategy. While GMES is considered to be Europe's main contribution to GEOSS and GEOSS is repeatedly mentioned in GMES policy documents, the relation with GEOSS is yet to be fully defined. Such a definition should consider the potential of increased international cooperation for the build-up of the GMES observation components, especially the in-situ component. GMES resources suitable for sharing with the international community have to be identified and registered in the GCI, while ensuring a proper 'branding'. Furthermore, the GEO data sharing principles should be taken account of in the implementation of GMES data policy and the participation of GMES activities and representatives in relevant GEO tasks and oversight bodies should be made a rule.
3. Intensify involvement in GEO activities targeting standards for metadata and data quality in order to promote the European Inspire and other standards and maximise benefits from GEOSS for European systems and programmes. Inspire as the legal basis for geodata exchange at a European public level must be the guideline for the European approach to GEOSS interoperability arrangements. GEOSS can benefit from the rich European experience and expertise generated by the Inspire process. This should be complemented by European involvement and visibility at the GEOSS front-end (the GEO portal) and its core GCI functions.
4. Promote and implement the GEOSS Data Sharing Action Plan within GMES, other relevant major European programmes and coordination bodies, funding agencies and MS. A major GEO added value so far is the progress achieved with the GEO Data Sharing Principles, which have contributed to the shaping of European data policies. In the case of GMES, they have been fully implemented in ESA's principles of GMES Sentinel data policy, but a full and comprehensive GMES data and information policy is yet to be defined. To make GMES a success and allow data sharing with international partners, the GEO Data Sharing Principles need to be promoted in the further process of GMES data policy definition. In the case of the EMI, GEO data sharing principles have been promoted through, e.g. the Oslo Declaration; however, further progress is needed to fully implement them.
5. Link the GMES In-Situ Coordination activity (GISC) with the GEOSS implementation process to achieve mutual benefits for GISC and GEOSS. GISC is a major process for improving data access for GMES Services to European in-situ observing systems and should also be a major contribution to GEOSS. Due to the global nature of many GMES Services, access to global in-situ networks is a crucial need and major challenge. By actively engaging in the relevant GEOSS in-situ task and implementation oversight body, Europe will be able to shape and profit from a well-performing global in-situ coordination process. The challenge of in-situ data coordination cannot be met independently in thematic silos; on the contrary, it calls for a combination of cross-cutting and thematically oriented coordination activities to set up efficient and sustainable in-situ infrastructure solutions. Europe's contributions to GEO/GEOSS should reflect this.
Regarding science and technology (S&T), the European response to the GEO strategic target should be to ensure full interaction and engagement of relevant European S&T communities with GEO. The goal is to advance GEOSS through increased integration of European innovations while the European S&T communities profit through intensified international cooperation and access to data. The following actions are proposed:
1. Continue and further focus GEOSS-relevant research. The example of FP7 referencing GEOSS shows how effectively the interaction of large European R&D projects can improve European participation and visibility in GEOSS implementation. Such referencing should be continued with the successor to FP7. Beyond the current FP 7 actions dedicated to GEOSS, there are many more important European-funded R&D activities not directly referencing GEOSS. Coordination of GEOSS-dedicated FP7 actions with those other activities, e.g. under GMES, the ESA Climate Change Initiative (CC I), the ESFRI, ECMWF and national R&D programmes, should be improved.
2. Continue fostering an increased involvement of European research communities in GMES and GEOSS. While there is world-class science and technology available in Europe, the best should be made known to the international community. Contributing to GEOSS is a suitable means to achieve this visibility. Therefore, GEO/GEOSS should be promoted more strongly within relevant European and national R&D institutions and programmes and appropriate incentives for an involvement in GMES and GEOSS should be developed.
In the field of user engagement, the user interfaces and requirements databases of GMES and other major European programmes are to be maintained and further developed and maximum synergies between European and international user requirements are to be generated. This target can be achieved by the following actions:
1. Intensify and focus European participation in GEO user engagement activities and structures by linking European structures with GEO. The importance of user-driven approaches is recognised and implemented by European operational programmes. Because of the potential of these programmes to contribute to GEOSS and to benefit from GEOSS, the global perspective should be addressed more explicitly within their user engagement fora. This will contribute substantially to more focused European participation in GEO user engagement activities.
2. Participate in user needs and gap analyses of GEO and communicate the European perspective. Currently, the analysis of user needs and unmet requirements is pursued by the User Interface Committee, the Science and Technology Committee and by GEO work plan tasks. Participation of European stakeholders in user needs and gap analyses needs to be increased to communicate the needs of European users and to identify strategic opportunities for Europe to contribute to the development of GEOSS.
The European target related to capacity building should be to increase coordination of Europe's capacity-building programmes with the corresponding GEO activities to develop sustained capacities for the use of EO. This can be brought forward by the following action:
1. Europe to become strategically involved in the capacity building initiatives being fostered and implemented by GEO. A number of highly relevant European programmes exist and should be brought to the attention of the respective GEO tasks (e.g. the African Water Cycle Coordination Initiative AWCCI), with the aims to build a strong and sustained GEO capacity-building component and to further dovetail European and other international capacity building activities to avoid duplication of work.
Improved European response for European coordination and outreach:
In addition to contributions toward fulfilling the GEO strategic targets of cross-cutting nature, there is a general need to intensify coordination and outreach measures within Europe to effectively foster the fulfilment of the GEO strategic targets and to achieve a strong and sustained European role and visibility within GEO. Enhanced coordination structures and intensified communication activities are needed and the political profile of GEO should better be leveraged to strengthen European political support for GEO and thus raise the efficiency and effectiveness of the European GEOSS contribution. Several activities are proposed to achieve this:
1. Take more benefit from the political profile of GEO to obtain support for addressing the issues of continuity, data access and gaps/opportunities within Europe. While there is consensus in Europe that a potential added value of GEOSS is its political profile, more action is required to leverage the political profile of GEO in Europe. The process of GMES operationalisation and in particular the initialisation of its global services will provide a suitable opportunity. Within GEO, in particular those initiatives are to be supported by European organisations which address identified observational gaps, such as carbon monitoring and biodiversity observations. As a result, European organisations could take a strong role within GEO and benefit from an improved visibility of their activities at the political level.
2. Enhance European coordination mechanisms to facilitate a strong European role in GEO. While the European GEO HLWG is a very useful forum for discussing and coordinating high-level strategic issues at the European level, functional intra-European coordination at an implementation level is not in place. To improve effective and coordinated participation of a European network of representatives in all areas of GEOSS implementation, management and oversight, European coordinators for each of the GEO strategic targets should be selected and linked with the HLWG. These coordinators would act as points of contact both within Europe and towards GEO.
3. Increase communication of European GEOSS activities. The visibility of European activities within GEO has been improved over the past years. However, within Europe, good visibility of these activities and of the achievements related to GEOSS is also needed in order to better communicate the relevance of GEOSS and to increase public support. Possible means may be a dedicated website and regular newsletters to inform both GEO and the European public and EO community.
Potential impact:
Potential impact and societal implications of the EUGENE project
The EUGENE project was an FP7 Support Action with the goal to strengthen Europe's role in the GEO and to foster collaboration among European EO stakeholders in order to be able to provide a strong and sustainable European component to GEOSS. This System of global EO systems is being designed for the societal benefit of humankind. Therefore, the EUGENE project itself intended to bring forward processes to the benefit of people in Europe and elsewhere. More concrete, the status quo of EOs and a possible further way ahead was examined regarding the areas of climate, water and disasters. Evidently, these three out of the nine GEO SBAs stand for major challenges the world is facing:
1. climate change is a reality and a better understanding of the climate system is vital to be able to adapt as good as possible to climate changes occurring in different regions of the earth
2. water is essential for human health and well-being as well as for the functioning of ecosystems, but there is increasing pressure on water resources worldwide. A sustainable management of these resources depends on an improved understanding of the Earth system, which can be facilitated by sustained observation systems and accessible data and information
3. natural disasters are a major cause of loss of life and property and disaster risk and vulnerability are increasing in many regions of the world. Timely provision of reliable information from EO systems can reduce disaster-induced losses.
Looking at Europe, specifically, there are abundant - often even world-class - capabilities in the field of both space-based and in-situ EO systems. A major role is being taken by the GMES programme, but also the EMI and many other systems and observational infrastructures characterise the capabilities of Europe and its national states.
However, EO requirements, systems and applications are often global by nature, its costs are high and sharing the burden is reasonable. This is why Europe - its MS and the EC - has made a commitment to the objectives of GEO. By using its strengths, capabilities and investments in the field of EO to substantially contribute to the build-up and successful operation of GEOSS, Europe is one of the cornerstones of this global endeavour. This serves Europe's policies in the fields of environment, energy, disaster management, development aid and climate. Furthermore, these efforts support major UN conventions and promote Europe's role in international efforts to adapt to global change and manage natural resources in a sustainable way.
With this, the wider societal implications of the EUGENE project are illustrated. Clearly, EUGENE could not be more than a cog in a big wheel, but some good progress towards the project goals has been made:
1. In order to foster collaboration and to strengthen coordination of European programmes and organisations in their work towards GEO, European experts were gathered in three EUGENE workshops and a number of additional meetings were organised to discuss specific issues.
2. EUGENE contributed to a good visibility of 'Europe for GEOSS' at the GEO Ministerial Summit in Beijing, November 2010.
3. Based on comprehensive status quo studies and consultations with European stakeholders, EUGENE contributed to a European GEO strategy by proposing a structured approach for the SBAs covered by the project and for cross-cutting aspects. This approach was presented to and discussed with the European GEO HLWG.
3. Based on the EUGENE proposals for a European GEO strategy, inputs to the GEO work plan 2012 to 2015 discussion were given to and further used by the EC.
4. A dedicated meeting with the GMES Bureau to discuss approaches to improve the link between GMES and GEOSS was quite helpful. In the following, GMES services were registered in the GEOSS Common Infrastructure and for the first time, the EC performed an analysis on GMES-GEOSS relations and informed the GEO Secretariat about this in the EC comments on the draft work plan 2012 to 2015.
5. An in-depth discussion with the European Environment Agency (EEA) and representatives of the GMES In-situ coordination project (GISC) was initiated by EUGENE and possible interfaces and mutual benefits were analysed. The results of this were integrated into the EUGENE synthesis paper and final publication. EEA explicitly endorsed these project results and confirmed that EUGENE acted as a trigger for the reinforced GEO engagement of EEA.
6. A EUGENE Climate Seminar in Brussels was used as a vehicle to communicate the conclusions of the Climate Status Quo Report and to brief different EC DGs, such as DG RTD, DG ENTR/GMES, DG Climate Action, JRC and DG DevCo, on main findings and recommendations of EUGENE related to Climate.
7. As a results of the workshop on 'Enhancing technical and procedural cooperation in satellite-based emergency mapping on a global scale' organised by EUGENE's work package on Disasters, the majority of about 25 experts from various organisations, including ESA, UN entities, the GEO Sec., EC-JRC, the GMES Bureau, SERTIT and DLR-ZKI supported the establishment of a working group to further deal with the matter. A follow-up meeting is scheduled for spring 2012, hosted by EC-JRC.
8. Results of EUGENE's work package on Disasters provided input to the shaping of the upcoming phase of the GMES Emergency Response Service.
9. EUGENE's work package on Water became an active part of the GEO Integrated Global Water Cycle Observations Community of Practice (IGWCO CoP) and followed relevant GEO activities such as the African Water Cycle Coordination Initiative (AfWCCI). These efforts will be continued after the EUGENE project based on other funding. IGWCO is planning to hold its 2013 annual meeting in Europe to establish contacts to European stakeholders, especially in the context of GMES.
10. The activities of the work package on Water led to the participation of relevant European players in a new FP7 project, which aims at increasing the interoperability of EO systems in the SBAs Weather, Ecosystems and Water (see http://www.geowow.eu online).
11. The discussions at the 2010 EUGENE Water Workshop contributed to the plans of the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) to play an active role in the upcoming Water Tasks of the GEO 2012-2015 Work Plan.
The overall impact of the work of the EUGENE project depends on the further exploitation of its results. In order to facilitate this, a final publication has been prepared and delivered to the HLWG, the GMES Bureau, the European Environment Agency and many European experts and GEO stakeholders. This publication communicates project results in a readable and appealing form and reference is made to a number of success examples (see http://www.eugene-fp7.eu/documents.htm online).
Now, the further exploitation of project results has to be organised by the European GEO community. As an appendix to the EUGENE final meeting report, the following final suggestions were formulated by the EUGENE consortium:
1. At its next meeting, the HLWG could collect more specific views of its members on which EUGENE recommendations shall be put into practice and who takes the responsibility for concrete measures (or could be asked to take responsibility).
2. The European implementation of the new GEO work plan seems to be a good opportunity to realise some of the measures proposed by EUGENE and to achieve significant progress. A team of European stakeholders should be established to coordinate this implementation process. This team could consist of representatives of the EC, European organisations and relevant GMES and FP7 projects.
3. The next GEO European Projects Workshop (GEPW-6) is scheduled for spring 2012. On this occasion, the way ahead could be discussed with European GEO stakeholders. In this context, it should be considered to broaden the scope of the workshop to a 'GEO European Stakeholders Workshop' rather than focussing on research projects and to start the preparation of the workshop with the GMES Bureau involved accordingly.
Main dissemination activities and exploitation of results
% With respect to dissemination and exploitation of the produced knowledge, the EUGENE consortium members undertook the following activities:
1. produced 10 main documents which were made available to the public (see http://www.eugene-fp7.eu/documents.htm online)
2. organised five workshops (more information at http://www.eugene-fp7.eu/events.htm online)
3. organised or co-organised six additional dedicated meetings
4. actively participated in other workshops and meetings
5. presented the project results at six GEO plenaries and international symposia
6. produced six additional publications, apart from the 10 main documents.
Project website: http://www.eugene-fp7.eu/
Project Coordinator:
Dr Helmut Staudenrausch
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Space Administration, Earth Observation
Königswinterer Str. 522-524
53227 Bonn
Germany
E-mail: helmut.staudenrausch@dlr.de
International cooperation is not an end in itself; it requires additional efforts and resources. In the domain of Earth Observation (EO), though, the benefit of international cooperation is clear: requirements, systems and applications are often global by nature and sharing the burden is reasonable. This is why Europe - its Member States (MS) and the European Commission (EC) - has made a commitment to the objectives of the Group on EOs (GEO). By using its strengths, capabilities and investments to substantially contribute to the build-up and successful operation of the Global EO System of Systems (GEOSS) for the benefit of humankind, Europe is one of the cornerstones of this global endeavour. This serves Europe's policies in the fields of environment, energy, disaster management, development aid and climate. Furthermore, these efforts support major United Nations (UN) conventions and promote Europe's role in international efforts to adapt to global change and manage natural resources in a sustainable way.
To be a strong and capable partner in the framework of GEO, Europe's mission is to define and realise the contributions to GEOSS by leveraging European operational EO programmes, research and development (R&D) programmes and relevant coordination activities. Maximum efforts are needed to achieve progress within the 2012-2015 timeframe, which corresponds to the GEOSS implementation plan.
The current status and challenges of European EO for three areas of European political priority (climate, disasters and water) have been thoroughly analysed. In general, Europe is well advanced in many areas and even a world leader in various respects. However, sustained operation of the necessary EO infrastructure and improved access to and exchange of data and information is of paramount importance for the societal benefit from EO.
Based on the analyses conducted for climate, disasters and water, respectively and on numerous discussions held with European experts and EO stakeholders, proposals for a European approach to GEO are being made. Concrete recommendations are provided; either related to topic-specific issues or cross-cutting aspects, such as appropriate user engagement, European coordination etc.
The Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme is expected to be a critical framework for achieving a strong European contribution to GEOSS. This is valid not only for satellite-based observations, where the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites Eumetsat provide suitable mechanisms, but also for ground-based networks through the GMES in-situ component coordinated by EEA.
The full and timely implementation of GMES will contribute considerably to the successful realisation of GEOSS. Additionally, the best use of GEOSS for Europe can be made within GMES. Thus, it is important to carefully define their relationship.
The European Meteorological Infrastructure (EMI) also contributes considerably to GEOSS, by its own programmes and by bringing its vast experience and infrastructure into GMES. For achieving sustained in-situ observations, the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) is another important framework and the Inspire directive sets associated geodata interoperability specifications and data access conditions highly relevant to GEOSS.
The explicit funding of projects dedicated to GEOSS in the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) context has been highly successful in improving European participation in GEO. This should be continued in the new 'Horizon 2020' framework and integrated with research dedicated to GMES. Other European research and development (R&D) mechanisms should also make explicit reference to GEOSS.
With its undisputed strengths and capacities in EO, its user engagement structures and capacity building programmes, Europe can be a strong partner in GEO. However, building on its existing assets, Europe needs to enhance coordination, intensify communication activities and leverage the political profile of GEO to raise the efficiency and effectiveness of the European GEOSS contribution.
Project context and objectives:
The EC, supported by MS and relevant European Organisations, has been leading the coordination of European GEOSS contributions by various means, such as:
1. acting as European co-chair in GEO and representing Europe in the GEO Executive Committee and all other GEO Committees, working groups and task forces together with other European Members;
2. establishing and organising the European Union (EU) GEO High Level Working Group (HLWG) as the European GEO coordination and information forum at administrative level;
3. gathering European inputs for the GEO Work Plan and other documents;
4. introducing GEOSS related criteria for EU FP7 co-funded projects;
5. organising events, such as the GEO European project workshops.
Whereas the EC-led and well established frameworks of GMES, Inspire and FP7 allow for structured and reliable coordination of European GEO contributions among the multiple actors within those frameworks, there are numerous other highly GEO-relevant European activities and actors that lack this level of coordination, both between each other and with GMES, Inspire and FP7 activities. Clearly, there is room for improvements regarding the overall impact, visibility and variety of European contributions to GEO at the global level. Presently, the European GEO component does not fully reflect the excellence and importance that European EO capabilities have in the international arena. This has been repeatedly recognised at several occasions, e.g. by the EU GEO HLWG and has triggered the need to come to a more strategic European GEO approach.
Against this background, the EUGENE project was started in October 2009 - a two-year Support Action funded under FP7 for Research and Technological Development. EUGENE stands for 'Improving coordination, visibility and impact of European GEOSS contributions by establishing a European Geo Network'.
The main objective of the EUGENE project was to foster collaboration between pan-European organisations in the field of EO and to strengthen the coordination of national and regional programmes and organisations in their work towards GEO. A process was to be started that should eventually lead to GEO oriented collaboration fora or mechanisms. The ultimate target of this process is to build a coordinated and sustained European EO system component as part of GEOSS, consisting of atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial sub-components using in-situ, remote and space-based observation techniques and related modelling components.
An important short term goal of EUGENE was to contribute to a coherent European representation at the GEO Ministerial Summit which took place in November 2010 in Beijing.
On a longer timescale, the EUGENE project had the objective to consolidate the European perspectives on GEO and to establish relevant coordination processes. These activities were to be instrumental to concluding a comprehensive European GEO strategy based on the work that had already been started by the HLWG. Therefore, EUGENE proposed a European GEO approach for selected GEO societal benefit areas (SBAs) and GEOSS cross-cutting issues, namely data and architecture, capacity building, user engagement and science and technology, with special attention to the relationship between GEOSS and GMES, FP7, Inspire and the programmes of ESA, Eumetsat, the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) etc.
EUGENE had a limited scope in addressing European activities and actors in three SBAs which correspond to European political priorities, namely climate, disasters and water. The initial EUGENE activities centred on determining the status quo of European EOs in the areas of Climate, Water and Disasters, respectively and to make available comprehensive reports. Then, three workshops were organised to review these reports and to discuss with European experts the strengths, existing gaps and challenges as well as future opportunities concerning European EO activities and their relationship to GEO. Additional meetings with major European players, such as the EC GMES Bureau, EEA, ECMWF and the European GEO HLWG further added to the overall understanding of issues to be addressed and their possible solutions.
The results of all these activities form the basis for proposals for a further refined European approach towards GEO. These proposals have been made available to the European GEO community. A final publication (see http://www.eugene-fp7.eu/documents.htm online) was prepared to present the results and recommendations of the EUGENE project along with some showcase examples of successfully coordinated projects and European EO systems.
The overall goal related to the EUGENE project was to contribute to a process which will ultimately lead to a strong and sustainable European GEOSS component for the benefit of the whole GEO community and, of course, for Europe itself. This process needs a lot of time and has to be taken further after the lifetime of the project. EUGENE's intention was to provide the EU GEO High-Level Working Group and all European GEO stakeholders with proposals for a European GEO approach and concrete ideas on how to achieve further progress to reach the overall goal within the 2012 to 2015 timeframe determined by the GEOSS 10 year implementation plan.
Project results:
Challenges
The three GEO SBAs covered by the EUGENE project, climate, disasters and water, represent great challenges to the world population which are interlinked with each other. There are a number of challenges related to more than one SBA, if not to all of them. Consequently, in order to achieve the vision for a GEOSS widely and efficiently utilised by users worldwide, there are a number of cross-cutting targets to be aimed at, as defined by GEO (GEO Strategic Targets by 2015):
1. Architecture: Achieve sustained operation, continuity and interoperability of existing and new systems that provide essential environmental observations and information, including the GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI) that facilitates access to and use of, these observations and information.
2. Data management: Provide a shared, easily accessible, timely, sustained stream of comprehensive data of documented quality, as well as metadata and information products, for informed decision-making.
3. Science and technology: Ensure full interaction and engagement of relevant science and technology communities such that GEOSS advances through integration of innovations in EO science and technology, enabling the research community to fully benefit from GEOSS accomplishments.
4. User engagement: Ensure critical user information needs for decision-making are recognised and met through EOs.
5. Capacity building: Enhance the coordination of efforts to strengthen individual, institutional and infrastructure capacities, particularly in developing countries, to produce and use EOs and derived information products.
From a European perspective, there is a need to contribute to the solution of both the SBA-specific challenges mentioned above and the challenges posed by cross-cutting issues, as defined by GEO, in order to achieve a strong and sustained European GEOSS component. Additionally, there is a general need to intensify coordination and outreach measures within Europe to effectively foster the fulfilment of the GEO strategic targets and to achieve a strong and sustained European role and visibility within GEO.
Europe's capabilities to respond
Europe has substantial capabilities and strengths to respond to the challenges outlined above, to contribute effective EO systems to a global system of systems and to support the establishment of GEOSS with sophisticated infrastructures, scientific knowledge and experience with user-driven approaches and capacity building. In the following, these capabilities are briefly outlined for climate, water, disasters and the before-mentioned cross-cutting issues, respectively. Much more comprehensive information is provided in the EUGENE status quo reports (see http://www.eugene-fp7.eu/documents.htm online).
Europe's capabilities to respond to the climate challenge:
Europe is very well positioned to respond to this challenge with world-class capabilities and systems, e.g. through:
1. Systematic meteorological observation networks (both in-situ and space) together with the associated long-term archives, with in-situ records extending over one hundred years in some cases and satellite records spanning over 30 years;
2. Long-term, operational programmes designed to ensure continuity of meteorological satellite observations;
3. Extensive modelling capabilities addressing inter alia Earth system processes, reanalysis and climate prediction and projections;
4. Long-term commitments by operational agencies to generate and maintain climate data records;
5. Research and development investment in observing systems (which in some cases are the forerunners of operational systems);
6. Commitment by the European Community to address climate issues through the use of research funding.
This extensive range of capabilities and systems is underpinned by and draws strength from, Europe's strong political will to address climate issues. Europe is also well integrated in the key international frameworks. These key frameworks are, in turn, closely connected to the implementation of relevant GEO climate tasks and targets. This strategic participation by European organisations in international frameworks is augmented by strong, individual, contributions from European countries. For example, a large number of national institutions are engaged in international cooperation. The role of national institutions is particularly significant in the provision of in-situ data due to the strong dependence on national infrastructures for in-situ data collection and a significant number of the international in-situ data centres are hosted by national institutions within Europe.
Europe's capabilities to respond to the water challenge:
There are prominent examples of European EO capabilities and expertise in the water sector, such as:
1. The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) as a legal basis for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), international cooperation and data exchange, especially for transboundary river basins;
2. Several pan-European EO data archives that contain information on water quality and water quantity for European freshwater, e.g. Water Information System for Europe (WISE), European Water Archive (EWA);
3. Operational hydrological networks established and maintained by European National Hydrological Services (NHS);
4. Remote sensing technologies that deliver relevant hydrological parameters, e.g. ESA's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite (SMOS) and the future GMES Sentinel missions.
Several European programmatic frameworks contribute to the goals of GEO in the water sector. In the field of EO and spatial information, two flagship programmes have been developed in Europe: GMES and the Inspire Directive. Both initiatives aim at establishing long-term, sustainable frameworks in their specific fields and are thus a major contribution of Europe to GEOSS.
Also European engagement in capacity building for EOs through dedicated programmes such as PUMA, EUMETCast, TIGER/ AMESD and various national European projects is a European strength. Europe has developed widespread capabilities in EO that are contributing to the implementation of key international frameworks such as the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), the Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS), the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) and the Hydrology and Water Resources Programme (HWRP).
Europe's capabilities to respond to the disasters challenge:
Substantial European developments and contributions to GEO are provided in the framework of the European initiative on GMES. The GMES Emergency Response Services are being developed in several projects in the context of EU research and technological development (RTD) framework programmes and ESA GMES projects. Important contributions are currently being made by the EU FP7 project SAFER. GMES provides emergency mapping services for situation analysis and damage assessment as well as reference mapping services to support preparedness and risk assessment. High priority is given to the quality assurance and validation of the services. The future GMES Sentinel Missions will provide continuing satellite resources for the GMES services.
Moreover, European services are provided on an operational basis e.g. by the Joint Research Centre of the EC, such as the European Flood Alert System (EFAS), the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), or the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS). The Global Fire Monitoring Centre (GFMC) provides a global portal for wild-land fire monitoring based on a worldwide network of cooperating institutions.
In the field of spatial information Europe is implementing the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE) programme to build up standards and rules for a consistent geodata infrastructure. Inspire establishes the legal framework and technical implementing rules, which could form a substantial basis for the GEOSS GCI.
Europe's capabilities to respond to the cross-cutting challenges:
Regarding Architecture and Data Management, which will be covered together in the following, the EMI has, over decades, developed a very well-functioning user-driven architecture. EMI provides sustained operations of EO systems and service continuity while being gradually upgraded and well integrated in the relevant international cooperation frameworks.
GMES as an emerging large-scale infrastructure programme has entered its initial operations phase, while some important aspects, such as data sharing, partnership with EMI, organisation of the in-situ component and embedding in the international scene have not yet been fully defined.
The ESFRI also has the potential to become an important framework supporting GEOSS. At the same time, Europe is well advanced in implementing geodata interoperability specifications and data sharing regulations through the EU Inspire directive.
ESA with its R&D capacities and Eumetsat as the operational organisation for climate and meteorology are central pillars of the European space-based EO architecture and are fully connected with GMES and the European meteorological programmes. They are crucial supporters of the Committee of Earth Observing Satellites (CEOS), the space component of GEOSS. ESA is responsible for the GEO Portal and through this also contributes significantly to the GEOSS GCI.
Related to Science and Technology, the explicit inclusion of GEOSS into the policy framework of FP7 and the related funding of dedicated projects has been highly successful in improving European participation and visibility in GEO Tasks. Other R&D funding mechanisms, while also having great potential to make contributions, do not make explicit reference to GEOSS, with the result that interaction of related activities with GEOSS is hampered. Thus, there is further potential to be exploited in order to connect European scientific expertise with the development of GEOSS.
There are numerous studies and databases available on European user requirements, most of them established and maintained by the large scale operational EO programmes, such as GMES and the EMI. These programmes also include mature (EMI) or emerging (GMES) user engagement structures with strong European and national focus, but no particular global view.
Europe also is strongly engaged in capacity building for EO through dedicated programmes. Moreover, the GMES Africa Action Plan is currently being developed. Due to this wide expertise, Europe is well positioned to support GEO in this important task, especially on the African continent.
Improved European response in the framework of GEO
In the following, a number of recommendations are provided resulting from the work of the EUGENE project, i.e. based on comprehensive status quo studies undertaken and discussions with European experts and GEO stakeholders at numerous workshops and meetings. These recommendations can also be found in a EUGENE strategic issues synthesis paper and the final project publication 'A European approach to GEO' (both available at http://www.eugene-fp7.eu/documents.htm online).
Improved European response for climate:
To increase and sustain Europe's already prominent contributions to international Climate frameworks, the following recommendations are made:
1. Strengthen the overall European contribution to the GEO Climate SBA by targeting some specific activities with secure, long-term, funding. The future GMES climate change service, as an overarching framework for European climate activities, should be implemented in a way that both adds value and is compatible with existing frameworks. Potential areas to be addressed by the GMES climate change service include maintain, extend and strengthen terrestrial and oceanic in-situ networks, filling remaining regional gaps and improving access to in-situ data; create long time series climate data records and take measures for data rescue and homogenisation (with a particular focus on in-situ data); construct long time series of essential climate variables based on satellite data, where possible; implement standards for metadata documentation; make provision for regular reanalysis cycles.
2. MS to better ensure coordination among the relevant major European organisations to maximise the effectiveness and efficiency of the extensive European activities in climate monitoring in the international arena. Notwithstanding the successful inter-agency coordination mechanism that exists among EC, Eumetsat and ESA, there is a further need to ensure coordination among all relevant European actors, namely ESA, Eumetsat, ECMWF, the European Meteorological Network (Eumetnet), EC etc. The importance of this coordination is underscored by the funding provided by MS to individual European organisations. Enhanced coordination among such organisations, driven by MS, is fundamental for improving the efficiency of European activities in the high-priority area of climate and climate change.
Improved European response for water:
To further improve Europe's contributions and visibility in the framework of GEO, there is a need to improve coordination and sustained observation of water cycle components, remove obstacles to sharing hydrological data and facilitate monitoring and continuous assessment of the status of water resources. Additionally, Europe intends to offer its expertise to GEO partners to develop capacity in the use of EO in different parts of the world. The following recommendations are formulated to achieve the above mentioned European targets and to close gaps in the European water sector.
1. Improve coordination of GEOSS-related hydrological activities in Europe. Europe has developed extensive capabilities and expertise in the water sector through the engagement of various pan-European organisations and MS. However, Europe is also facing a certain fragmentation of institutions involved in environmental monitoring of the water cycle, which mainly originates from the thematic diversity of the areas affected by water and the associated institutional responsibilities. GEOSS offers itself as an overarching framework for Europe to establish a pan-European coordination process in the water area to better link existing EO activities at European and national levels. Since GEOSS addresses key international players and initiatives, such a pan-European process related to GEOSS may serve to coordinate Europe's contributions to the implementation of international frameworks. Therefore, it is recommended to establish links between the European GEO HLWG and existing European expert groups in the water sector as coordination platforms for European GEOSS activities. Many EU MS contribute to international hydrological efforts via their membership in different working groups on European and international levels. These groups are a potential overarching framework for MS within which they can organise their involvement in GEOSS and improve coordination on a national level. The WMO Working Group on Climate and Hydrology (WG-CH) within the Regional Association VI (Europe) could be used by MS as a platform for GEOSS-related technical discussions and cooperation. It is recommended to consider establishing a formal link and regular exchange between the WG-CH and European GEO stakeholders in the Water SBA and making use of the WG-CH as a European coordination entity in the water sector with links to the HLWG.
2. Establish a coordinated European presence in the GEO Water SBA. Coordinated, concrete action at the implementation level is needed to bring forward Europe's position within GEOSS. Participation in relevant GEO Work Plan Tasks and committees enables the exchange of expertise and the establishment of links with international partners. Strong European participation in the Water SBA will help to identify observational gaps and to develop solutions based on European capabilities. One way to achieve this would be to establish a European regional subgroup under the GEO Integrated Global Water Cycle Observations (IGWCO) Community of Practice One, which supports the implementation of activities in the Water SBA. This community features regional subgroups which address regional aspects related to the deployment of integrated observations of water cycle components. A regional community of practice provides an ideal forum for the European water community to identify water-related user requirements, to increase the visibility of European EO capabilities and to use opportunities for Europe at the global level. It generally enables European organisations to exchange ideas, increase cooperation with relevant international actors and contribute to the implementation of the water SBA. It is recommended to improve the coordination of European contributions to GEO Water Tasks by conducting regular European GEO task workshops. Relevant European activities need to be better communicated at the GEO task level. The development of the GMES in-situ component by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the GMES Africa Action Plan are extremely important processes in this context. Participation of European stakeholders and project coordinators in GEO Water Tasks is an efficient way to achieve coordinated contributions.
3. Develop coordinated, targeted observations of the global water cycle and assure a proper European 'branding'. The closure of observational gaps is an important step toward achieving the Strategic Target of the water SBA. On a global scale, this can only be achieved by a joint, coordinated effort of the international EO community. Europe has developed extensive capabilities in the water sector, such as operational hydrological networks, pan-European archives of water related information, monitoring and early warning systems for hydro-meteorological hazards and expertise in the development of hydrogeological maps of continental scale. To promote this aim intensive support for the deployment of remote sensing technologies for hydrological applications is needed. Europe is contributing successfully to the development of remote sensing technologies for hydrological applications and should intensify international cooperation in the GEOSS framework. For example, the CEOS has established different virtual constellations (VC), which address certain EO requirements through the combined, overlapping use of different satellite systems as a contribution to the implementation of the GEO Work Plan. Europe should provide suitable technology (e.g. ESA's SMOS satellite) to the VCs and support the development of a VC for hydrology. In addition to the registration of EO components in the GEOSS GCI, Europe should use strategic opportunities to provide dedicated components to specific water SBA tasks. The task framework facilitates international coordination and increases the visibility of European contributions.
4. Foster the exchange of hydrological data. Restrictive and complex data policies still pose a major obstacle for the exchange of hydrological data. With the recently adopted GEOSS Data Sharing Principles (DSP), GEO intends to facilitate the exchange of EO data on the global level. It is therefore recommended that the implementation of GEOSS Data Sharing Principles be supported in the European MS. Three major European frameworks for (hydrological) data exchange contribute to the development of GEOSS: the Inspire Directive, the WISE as part of the planned 'Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS)' and the GMES programme. European stakeholders are also deeply involved in the efforts of international standardisation organisations such as ISO and OGC. To facilitate the exchange of hydrological data, efforts to develop specifications and standards for data formats and interfaces should be made in the context of international standardisation activities, such as the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Hydrology Domain Working Group. Especially, existing INSPIRE-related standards need to be taken into consideration. Working towards the compatibility of Inspire and the GEOSS Data Sharing Principles should be of high priority. Through the Inspire process, Europe has acquired considerable experience in the field of spatial data standards and infrastructure development, which must be brought into the GEO process in a coordinated way. Furthermore, it is important to enable access to the WISE database through the GEOSS GCI. In addition to the registration of components such as WISE in the GEOSS Registry, interoperability of available information systems and direct access through the GCI should be sought.
Improved European response for disasters:
Europe contributes to the GEO disasters SBA with a variety of services and products, mainly through the GMES Emergency Response Service and the European Meteorological Infrastructure. Additionally, European entities significantly contribute to international mechanisms like the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters and UN-Spider. However, there is a need to intensify European efforts to achieve the GEO strategic target for the disasters SBA and to increase collaboration among these mechanisms for the benefit of both the international partners and Europe itself. To achieve this, a number of recommendations were developed within the project.
1. Support improved international cooperation in EO based emergency response. Cooperation among and harmonisation of services using EO data to provide information for disaster management should be improved at the global level. While the activation mechanism of services in case of disasters is well advanced and the acquisition of and access to satellite data through mechanisms such as the International Charter on Space and Major Disaster has been considerably improved, deficiencies still remain in global coordination among service providers in the case of major disasters. This was very apparent in the case of the Haiti earthquake of 2010, when a large amount of EO-based disaster information (several hundred products) had been produced by several service providers. These products differed in quality and contained redundant and sometimes even contradictory information. As a result, users found it difficult to identify the most reliable product. Thus, it is necessary to develop best-practice emergency mapping guidelines and provide users with clear indications about information quality and uncertainty, along with the product itself. In this respect, Europe can draw on the results and significant experience gained in the context of GMES and other disaster-related projects and activities. In addition, mechanisms of the European GMES Emergency Response Service (ERS) and of international activities like the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters, Sentinel Asia, SERVIR, UN SPIDER and GEO should be harmonised to optimise the benefit for users. GEO could serve as a platform to improve the link between relevant stakeholders such as data providers, service providers, scientists and end users. European organisations involved in disaster management should actively participate in relevant activities in the frameworks of GEO and the UN to discuss best practice solutions for emergency mapping, information exchange and an improved worldwide coordination of activities. Strong commitment to GEOSS expressed by integrating the GMES ERS and disasters-related FP7 projects increases Europe's visibility at the international level. Based on experience with the good collaboration among the European members of the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters and the pre-operational GMES ERS project SAFER, cooperation should be further promoted while the operational ERS is being implemented. Good communication and collaboration between both mechanisms will avoid a waste of resources in cases of parallel activities. In addition, mutual benefits can be achieved, e.g. by dividing the workload in cases of extreme disasters, data sharing where possible/appropriate and providing GMES rapid-mapping capacities to the Charter in cases of Charter activations with relevance to European users or policies.
2. Facilitate access to in-situ data and their integration into all stages of disaster management. Access to space-based EO data on European and international levels has been considerably improved through coordination by ESA, EUMETSAT and international partners and initiatives, e.g. the International Charter. Access to in-situ data, however, still remains difficult and is not yet harmonised and operationally implemented, although appropriate in-situ data is essential for disaster management and risk assessment. On-going activities, such as the GMES in-situ coordination (GISC) project led by the European Environment Agency (EEA), aim at achieving easy and open access to in-situ data in the GMES framework. Most in-situ data sets exist on the national level, so a search for up to date information is time-consuming. Especially during the emergency response phase, fast access is required. In addition, these data sets are of different levels of quality. Availability and interoperability of data relevant for all stages of disaster management should be improved by linking and harmonising national data collections and national, European and international networks, as far as possible. On a European level, the EEA is establishing the GMES in-situ component by making use of existing networks and extending their functionality, interoperability and sustainability through its current work within the GISC project. Ways for the best possible incorporation of these networks into GEOSS should be sought and an extension to a user-friendly worldwide 'net of networks' would serve the needs of all actors operating in the field of disaster management. While there is a GEO work plan task especially dedicated to the 'Use of Satellites for Risk Management', no similar task has been assigned to deal with in-situ data. Europe should make an effort to promote the creation of an additional work plan task dedicated to improved access to in-situ data for disaster management. Subsequently, possible European contributions, especially from the GISC project, should be analysed and promoted within GEO.
3. Improve organisational links and interaction between existing forecasting services and emergency response services to facilitate fast and efficient reaction in case of a disaster. The interaction between forecast services (e.g. meteorological services) and emergency response services should be improved. Especially for hydrometeorological hazards a number of operational forecasting and early warning systems exist in Europe, e.g. the European Flood Alert System (EFAS). In order to improve reaction time the emergency response mapping services should establish closer links to these forecast services. European forecasting systems and GMES should analyse ways to beneficially cooperate in emergency response (sharing relevant information, finding means for rapid data exchange, etc.) and the means to implement them. Often, restricted data policies pose major problems. The data of some forecasting services are only available to a limited user group (mainly national authorities), due to restrictions imposed by the MS. While links between different forecasting services do exist, e.g. co-operation agreement between the joint research centre (JRC) and ECMWF in order to use ECMWF's meteorological forecasts as input for the flood forecasts provided by EFAS, there are currently none to GMES Emergency Response Services. Representatives from forecasting and emergency response services as well as from MS should jointly aim to establish the necessary structures and procedures for better cooperation. Exchange of data in this case does not imply free and open access to the general public, but an exchange between the different services.
4. Promote the establishment of global early-warning systems and missing services
The GEO 2009-2011 Work Plan Task 'Warning Systems for Disasters' specifically deals with global early-warning systems for tsunamis and wildland fires, while other hazards are not yet being targeted. Through the experiences gained in establishing existing systems such as EFFIS and EFAS, as well as EUMETNET's Meteoalarm and ECMWF's medium-range weather forecasts and Extreme Forecast Index (EFI), Europe could greatly contribute to the establishment and operationalisation of a global 'Early-Warning System of Systems'. This system should not replace existing ones, but serve as a platform consolidating information from different systems dealing with the same hazard. Furthermore, important synergies could be generated by bringing together systems dealing with different hazards (e.g. use of common communication networks, procedures or institutional frameworks). Europe should support this work by incorporating its systems like EFFIS and EFAS. While Europe has advanced forecasting services for hydro-meteorological hazards, operational systems for other hazard types such as landslides and volcanoes do not exist. Also a lack of ground movement services, important for preparedness with regard to geohazards, has been identified. Efforts should be made to close gaps of coverage within Europe and on a global scale, especially in developing countries (e.g. within the GMES and Africa initiative).
5. Improve benefits of Earth-Observation based disaster management products through capacity building
So as to use disaster management products in a beneficial way, users need to be trained. This is especially important for early-warning systems where short reaction time and reliable warnings are highly important to ensure their effectiveness. Furthermore, decision makers need to be made aware of existing products and services. The 2010 Pakistan floods showed that not necessarily the lack of appropriate data, but rather ignorance about its existence, hinders effective disaster management. Meteorological data as well as the ECMWF EFI indicated exceptionally strong rainfall six days before the flooding. The EFI was available to the Pakistani authorities and additional, more precise data would have been provided upon request. Thus, training stakeholders is vital, so they know how to access, interpret and utilise data to best benefit from available observation systems. The capacity building tasks within GEO are appropriate platforms and European service providers should actively contribute to their success. In addition, by registering its services and products in GEOSS, Europe could increase their visibility and make them more widely known.
Improved European response for cross-cutting issues:
In the field of architecture and data management, there is the need to achieve sustained operation and continuity of GMES and other major European contributions, interoperable with and accessible to the GEOSS Common Infrastructure. Observations and products of documented high quality should be subject to full and open exchange for the mutual benefit of all parties. In order to accomplish these goals, the following actions are proposed:
1. Provide relevant European key activities with secure long-term funding to both serve European and internationally agreed requirements. Many relevant EO activities are currently funded within existing frameworks for research, whereas others are planned as operational systems. In many cases there is the risk of a disruption of continuity. Thus, achieving the transfer of activities from R&D to sustained operational activities secured by long-term budgets is a major challenge at global and European levels and a precondition for most of the applications benefitting from EO. A major example is GMES, which faces the challenge of being transferred from initial to full operations. The continuity of Eumetsat's Polar System is another near-term example.
2. Implement within GMES a key framework for European GEOSS contributions as part of the international GMES cooperation strategy. While GMES is considered to be Europe's main contribution to GEOSS and GEOSS is repeatedly mentioned in GMES policy documents, the relation with GEOSS is yet to be fully defined. Such a definition should consider the potential of increased international cooperation for the build-up of the GMES observation components, especially the in-situ component. GMES resources suitable for sharing with the international community have to be identified and registered in the GCI, while ensuring a proper 'branding'. Furthermore, the GEO data sharing principles should be taken account of in the implementation of GMES data policy and the participation of GMES activities and representatives in relevant GEO tasks and oversight bodies should be made a rule.
3. Intensify involvement in GEO activities targeting standards for metadata and data quality in order to promote the European Inspire and other standards and maximise benefits from GEOSS for European systems and programmes. Inspire as the legal basis for geodata exchange at a European public level must be the guideline for the European approach to GEOSS interoperability arrangements. GEOSS can benefit from the rich European experience and expertise generated by the Inspire process. This should be complemented by European involvement and visibility at the GEOSS front-end (the GEO portal) and its core GCI functions.
4. Promote and implement the GEOSS Data Sharing Action Plan within GMES, other relevant major European programmes and coordination bodies, funding agencies and MS. A major GEO added value so far is the progress achieved with the GEO Data Sharing Principles, which have contributed to the shaping of European data policies. In the case of GMES, they have been fully implemented in ESA's principles of GMES Sentinel data policy, but a full and comprehensive GMES data and information policy is yet to be defined. To make GMES a success and allow data sharing with international partners, the GEO Data Sharing Principles need to be promoted in the further process of GMES data policy definition. In the case of the EMI, GEO data sharing principles have been promoted through, e.g. the Oslo Declaration; however, further progress is needed to fully implement them.
5. Link the GMES In-Situ Coordination activity (GISC) with the GEOSS implementation process to achieve mutual benefits for GISC and GEOSS. GISC is a major process for improving data access for GMES Services to European in-situ observing systems and should also be a major contribution to GEOSS. Due to the global nature of many GMES Services, access to global in-situ networks is a crucial need and major challenge. By actively engaging in the relevant GEOSS in-situ task and implementation oversight body, Europe will be able to shape and profit from a well-performing global in-situ coordination process. The challenge of in-situ data coordination cannot be met independently in thematic silos; on the contrary, it calls for a combination of cross-cutting and thematically oriented coordination activities to set up efficient and sustainable in-situ infrastructure solutions. Europe's contributions to GEO/GEOSS should reflect this.
Regarding science and technology (S&T), the European response to the GEO strategic target should be to ensure full interaction and engagement of relevant European S&T communities with GEO. The goal is to advance GEOSS through increased integration of European innovations while the European S&T communities profit through intensified international cooperation and access to data. The following actions are proposed:
1. Continue and further focus GEOSS-relevant research. The example of FP7 referencing GEOSS shows how effectively the interaction of large European R&D projects can improve European participation and visibility in GEOSS implementation. Such referencing should be continued with the successor to FP7. Beyond the current FP 7 actions dedicated to GEOSS, there are many more important European-funded R&D activities not directly referencing GEOSS. Coordination of GEOSS-dedicated FP7 actions with those other activities, e.g. under GMES, the ESA Climate Change Initiative (CC I), the ESFRI, ECMWF and national R&D programmes, should be improved.
2. Continue fostering an increased involvement of European research communities in GMES and GEOSS. While there is world-class science and technology available in Europe, the best should be made known to the international community. Contributing to GEOSS is a suitable means to achieve this visibility. Therefore, GEO/GEOSS should be promoted more strongly within relevant European and national R&D institutions and programmes and appropriate incentives for an involvement in GMES and GEOSS should be developed.
In the field of user engagement, the user interfaces and requirements databases of GMES and other major European programmes are to be maintained and further developed and maximum synergies between European and international user requirements are to be generated. This target can be achieved by the following actions:
1. Intensify and focus European participation in GEO user engagement activities and structures by linking European structures with GEO. The importance of user-driven approaches is recognised and implemented by European operational programmes. Because of the potential of these programmes to contribute to GEOSS and to benefit from GEOSS, the global perspective should be addressed more explicitly within their user engagement fora. This will contribute substantially to more focused European participation in GEO user engagement activities.
2. Participate in user needs and gap analyses of GEO and communicate the European perspective. Currently, the analysis of user needs and unmet requirements is pursued by the User Interface Committee, the Science and Technology Committee and by GEO work plan tasks. Participation of European stakeholders in user needs and gap analyses needs to be increased to communicate the needs of European users and to identify strategic opportunities for Europe to contribute to the development of GEOSS.
The European target related to capacity building should be to increase coordination of Europe's capacity-building programmes with the corresponding GEO activities to develop sustained capacities for the use of EO. This can be brought forward by the following action:
1. Europe to become strategically involved in the capacity building initiatives being fostered and implemented by GEO. A number of highly relevant European programmes exist and should be brought to the attention of the respective GEO tasks (e.g. the African Water Cycle Coordination Initiative AWCCI), with the aims to build a strong and sustained GEO capacity-building component and to further dovetail European and other international capacity building activities to avoid duplication of work.
Improved European response for European coordination and outreach:
In addition to contributions toward fulfilling the GEO strategic targets of cross-cutting nature, there is a general need to intensify coordination and outreach measures within Europe to effectively foster the fulfilment of the GEO strategic targets and to achieve a strong and sustained European role and visibility within GEO. Enhanced coordination structures and intensified communication activities are needed and the political profile of GEO should better be leveraged to strengthen European political support for GEO and thus raise the efficiency and effectiveness of the European GEOSS contribution. Several activities are proposed to achieve this:
1. Take more benefit from the political profile of GEO to obtain support for addressing the issues of continuity, data access and gaps/opportunities within Europe. While there is consensus in Europe that a potential added value of GEOSS is its political profile, more action is required to leverage the political profile of GEO in Europe. The process of GMES operationalisation and in particular the initialisation of its global services will provide a suitable opportunity. Within GEO, in particular those initiatives are to be supported by European organisations which address identified observational gaps, such as carbon monitoring and biodiversity observations. As a result, European organisations could take a strong role within GEO and benefit from an improved visibility of their activities at the political level.
2. Enhance European coordination mechanisms to facilitate a strong European role in GEO. While the European GEO HLWG is a very useful forum for discussing and coordinating high-level strategic issues at the European level, functional intra-European coordination at an implementation level is not in place. To improve effective and coordinated participation of a European network of representatives in all areas of GEOSS implementation, management and oversight, European coordinators for each of the GEO strategic targets should be selected and linked with the HLWG. These coordinators would act as points of contact both within Europe and towards GEO.
3. Increase communication of European GEOSS activities. The visibility of European activities within GEO has been improved over the past years. However, within Europe, good visibility of these activities and of the achievements related to GEOSS is also needed in order to better communicate the relevance of GEOSS and to increase public support. Possible means may be a dedicated website and regular newsletters to inform both GEO and the European public and EO community.
Potential impact:
Potential impact and societal implications of the EUGENE project
The EUGENE project was an FP7 Support Action with the goal to strengthen Europe's role in the GEO and to foster collaboration among European EO stakeholders in order to be able to provide a strong and sustainable European component to GEOSS. This System of global EO systems is being designed for the societal benefit of humankind. Therefore, the EUGENE project itself intended to bring forward processes to the benefit of people in Europe and elsewhere. More concrete, the status quo of EOs and a possible further way ahead was examined regarding the areas of climate, water and disasters. Evidently, these three out of the nine GEO SBAs stand for major challenges the world is facing:
1. climate change is a reality and a better understanding of the climate system is vital to be able to adapt as good as possible to climate changes occurring in different regions of the earth
2. water is essential for human health and well-being as well as for the functioning of ecosystems, but there is increasing pressure on water resources worldwide. A sustainable management of these resources depends on an improved understanding of the Earth system, which can be facilitated by sustained observation systems and accessible data and information
3. natural disasters are a major cause of loss of life and property and disaster risk and vulnerability are increasing in many regions of the world. Timely provision of reliable information from EO systems can reduce disaster-induced losses.
Looking at Europe, specifically, there are abundant - often even world-class - capabilities in the field of both space-based and in-situ EO systems. A major role is being taken by the GMES programme, but also the EMI and many other systems and observational infrastructures characterise the capabilities of Europe and its national states.
However, EO requirements, systems and applications are often global by nature, its costs are high and sharing the burden is reasonable. This is why Europe - its MS and the EC - has made a commitment to the objectives of GEO. By using its strengths, capabilities and investments in the field of EO to substantially contribute to the build-up and successful operation of GEOSS, Europe is one of the cornerstones of this global endeavour. This serves Europe's policies in the fields of environment, energy, disaster management, development aid and climate. Furthermore, these efforts support major UN conventions and promote Europe's role in international efforts to adapt to global change and manage natural resources in a sustainable way.
With this, the wider societal implications of the EUGENE project are illustrated. Clearly, EUGENE could not be more than a cog in a big wheel, but some good progress towards the project goals has been made:
1. In order to foster collaboration and to strengthen coordination of European programmes and organisations in their work towards GEO, European experts were gathered in three EUGENE workshops and a number of additional meetings were organised to discuss specific issues.
2. EUGENE contributed to a good visibility of 'Europe for GEOSS' at the GEO Ministerial Summit in Beijing, November 2010.
3. Based on comprehensive status quo studies and consultations with European stakeholders, EUGENE contributed to a European GEO strategy by proposing a structured approach for the SBAs covered by the project and for cross-cutting aspects. This approach was presented to and discussed with the European GEO HLWG.
3. Based on the EUGENE proposals for a European GEO strategy, inputs to the GEO work plan 2012 to 2015 discussion were given to and further used by the EC.
4. A dedicated meeting with the GMES Bureau to discuss approaches to improve the link between GMES and GEOSS was quite helpful. In the following, GMES services were registered in the GEOSS Common Infrastructure and for the first time, the EC performed an analysis on GMES-GEOSS relations and informed the GEO Secretariat about this in the EC comments on the draft work plan 2012 to 2015.
5. An in-depth discussion with the European Environment Agency (EEA) and representatives of the GMES In-situ coordination project (GISC) was initiated by EUGENE and possible interfaces and mutual benefits were analysed. The results of this were integrated into the EUGENE synthesis paper and final publication. EEA explicitly endorsed these project results and confirmed that EUGENE acted as a trigger for the reinforced GEO engagement of EEA.
6. A EUGENE Climate Seminar in Brussels was used as a vehicle to communicate the conclusions of the Climate Status Quo Report and to brief different EC DGs, such as DG RTD, DG ENTR/GMES, DG Climate Action, JRC and DG DevCo, on main findings and recommendations of EUGENE related to Climate.
7. As a results of the workshop on 'Enhancing technical and procedural cooperation in satellite-based emergency mapping on a global scale' organised by EUGENE's work package on Disasters, the majority of about 25 experts from various organisations, including ESA, UN entities, the GEO Sec., EC-JRC, the GMES Bureau, SERTIT and DLR-ZKI supported the establishment of a working group to further deal with the matter. A follow-up meeting is scheduled for spring 2012, hosted by EC-JRC.
8. Results of EUGENE's work package on Disasters provided input to the shaping of the upcoming phase of the GMES Emergency Response Service.
9. EUGENE's work package on Water became an active part of the GEO Integrated Global Water Cycle Observations Community of Practice (IGWCO CoP) and followed relevant GEO activities such as the African Water Cycle Coordination Initiative (AfWCCI). These efforts will be continued after the EUGENE project based on other funding. IGWCO is planning to hold its 2013 annual meeting in Europe to establish contacts to European stakeholders, especially in the context of GMES.
10. The activities of the work package on Water led to the participation of relevant European players in a new FP7 project, which aims at increasing the interoperability of EO systems in the SBAs Weather, Ecosystems and Water (see http://www.geowow.eu online).
11. The discussions at the 2010 EUGENE Water Workshop contributed to the plans of the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) to play an active role in the upcoming Water Tasks of the GEO 2012-2015 Work Plan.
The overall impact of the work of the EUGENE project depends on the further exploitation of its results. In order to facilitate this, a final publication has been prepared and delivered to the HLWG, the GMES Bureau, the European Environment Agency and many European experts and GEO stakeholders. This publication communicates project results in a readable and appealing form and reference is made to a number of success examples (see http://www.eugene-fp7.eu/documents.htm online).
Now, the further exploitation of project results has to be organised by the European GEO community. As an appendix to the EUGENE final meeting report, the following final suggestions were formulated by the EUGENE consortium:
1. At its next meeting, the HLWG could collect more specific views of its members on which EUGENE recommendations shall be put into practice and who takes the responsibility for concrete measures (or could be asked to take responsibility).
2. The European implementation of the new GEO work plan seems to be a good opportunity to realise some of the measures proposed by EUGENE and to achieve significant progress. A team of European stakeholders should be established to coordinate this implementation process. This team could consist of representatives of the EC, European organisations and relevant GMES and FP7 projects.
3. The next GEO European Projects Workshop (GEPW-6) is scheduled for spring 2012. On this occasion, the way ahead could be discussed with European GEO stakeholders. In this context, it should be considered to broaden the scope of the workshop to a 'GEO European Stakeholders Workshop' rather than focussing on research projects and to start the preparation of the workshop with the GMES Bureau involved accordingly.
Main dissemination activities and exploitation of results
% With respect to dissemination and exploitation of the produced knowledge, the EUGENE consortium members undertook the following activities:
1. produced 10 main documents which were made available to the public (see http://www.eugene-fp7.eu/documents.htm online)
2. organised five workshops (more information at http://www.eugene-fp7.eu/events.htm online)
3. organised or co-organised six additional dedicated meetings
4. actively participated in other workshops and meetings
5. presented the project results at six GEO plenaries and international symposia
6. produced six additional publications, apart from the 10 main documents.
Project website: http://www.eugene-fp7.eu/
Project Coordinator:
Dr Helmut Staudenrausch
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Space Administration, Earth Observation
Königswinterer Str. 522-524
53227 Bonn
Germany
E-mail: helmut.staudenrausch@dlr.de