• CoastObs ensured the user uptake of EO-based services by matching user requirements with product and system development. To start, extensive requirements questionnaires were carried out in personal meetings, covering content, quality, service and technical requirements of 17 users.
• CoastObs developed 3 innovative and 6 higher level products that go beyond readily available data and services from CMEMS and other core services.
• CoastObs enables the low-cost production of services to serve a variety of customers by setting up an automated producting infrastructure, and to facilitate the generation of higher level products from standard products. Also matching users from the same region reduces the amount of effort to produce the products per user.
• CoastObs created user familiarity and acceptance of EO-based information products stepwise: an initial product and service portfolio showcased the capabilities of EO for coastal monitoring, explaining the benefits and limitations of EO data. The product documents that were than produced based on their own requirements contributed significantly to the interest of the users. The final demonstration case documentation materials, e-training and success stories lead to more acceptance in a broad user group. In the final user questionnaire 57% of the users responded that EO data should be allowed for environmental reporting purposes is an important step towards acceptance.
• The final user questionnaire responses highlighted that the CoastObs service has moved from ‘technology push’ to ‘user pull’. The constructive criticism and requests for more products are very positive indicators for the future demand of the CoastObs service and the business case.
• CoastObs was branded and new users were included. CoastObs attended conferences and workshops relevant to the respective user communities to learn more about the user needs of the different user communities and spread information about the CoastObs products and services. A wider audience was targeted by social media, newsletters and participation in exhibitions.
• CoastObs is prepared to deliver service products directly into user systems, however, automatic integration into their systems was not a priority for the current user-base. Therefore a web-portal that allows downloads was set up to demonstrate CoastObs data. We expect that as the users get in this way more familiar with the data, there might be interest in direct integration into their systems.
• CoastObs wrote a marketing and business plan including an initial market analysis, a description of the services and service levels, an analysis of competition, the economic feasibility, the business approach and financial forecasts. The Product and service portfolio and the success stories are used extensively to attract potential users.
• CoastObs wrote a joint White Paper “Satellite-assisted monitoring of water quality to support the implementation of the Water Framework Directive”, targeting those authorities being involved in the WFD definition and protocol developments.
• CoastObs' deliverable ‘Discussion document CMEMS core and downstream services’ concludes that the gap between the core service offer(including the May 2021 updates) and what users require still offers opportunities for downstream services such as CoastObs. The progress beyond the state of the art is centered on algorithms for optically complex waters, tuned locally for the case study areas if needed. The development of user-required products by CoastObs can also provide bottom-up feedback for the CMEMS services.
