| Copernicus is the most ambitious, most comprehensive Earth observation system world-wide. It aims at giving decision-makers better information to act upon, at global, continental, national and regional level.
The European Union (EU) leads the overall programme, while the European Space Agency (ESA) coordinates the space component. Similar to meteorology, satellite data is combined with data from airborne and ground sensors to provide a holistic view of the state of the planet. All these data are fed into a range of thematic information services designed to benefit the environment and to support policy-makers and other stakeholders to make decisions, coordinate policy areas, and formulate strategies relating to the environment. Moreover, the data will also be used for predicting future climate trends.
Never has such a comprehensive Earth-observation based system been in place before. It will be fully integrated into an informed decision making process, thus enabling economic and social benefits through better access to information globally.
A key feature of Copernicus is the free and open data policy of the Sentinel satellite data. This will enable that Earth observation based information enters completely new domains of daily life. High quality, regularly updated satellite observations become available for basically everyone. To ensure universal access new ground segment and data access concepts need to be developed. As more data are made available, better decisions can made, more business will be created and science and research can be achieved through the upcoming Sentinel data. |