Source: www.copernicus.eu
OVERVIEW
Copernicus is a European system for monitoring the
Earth.
Copernicus consists of a complex set of systems
which collect data from multiple sources: earth
observation satellites and in situ sensors such as
ground stations, airborne and sea-borne sensors. It processes these data and provides users with
reliable and up-to-date information through a set of services related to environmental and security
issues...
The services address six thematic areas: land, marine, atmosphere, climate change, emergency
management and security. They support a wide range of applications, including environment
protection, management of urban areas, regional and local planning, agriculture, forestry, fisheries,
health, transport, climate change, sustainable development, civil protection and tourism.
The main users of Copernicus services are policymakers and public authorities who need the
information to develop environmental legislation and policies or to take critical decisions in the
event of an emergency, such as a natural disaster or a humanitarian crisis.
Based on the Copernicus services and on the data collected through the Sentinels and the
contributing missions, many value-added services can be tailored to specific public or commercial
needs, resulting in new business opportunities. In fact, several economic studies have already
demonstrated a huge potential for job creation, innovation and growth.
The Copernicus programme is coordinated and managed by the European Commission. The
development of the observation infrastructure is performed under the aegis of the European Space
Agency for the space component and of the European Environment Agency and the Member States
for the in situ component.
COPERNICUS SECURITY SERVICES
The Copernicus services for Security applications aim to support the related European Union
policies in the following priority
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Border surveillance;
Maritime surveillance;
Support to EU External Action.
Border Surveillance
In the area of border surveillance, main objectives are to reduce the number of illegal immigrants
entering the EU undetected, to reduce the death toll of illegal immigrants by rescuing more lives at
sea and to increase internal security of the European Union as a whole by contributing to the
prevention of cross-border crime. During the period 2009 – 2011, border surveillance and support to
EU External Action have been addressed by the G-MOSAIC project.
Maritime Surveillance
In the area of maritime surveillance, the overall objective of the European Union is to ensure the
safe use of the sea and to secure Europe’s maritime borders. The corresponding challenges mainly
relate to safety of navigation, marine pollution, law enforcement, and overall security.In the area of
maritime surveillance, work is being pursued mainly through research and demonstrator activities.
Support to EU External Action
As a global actor, Europe has a responsibility in promoting stable conditions for human and
economic development, human rights, democracy and fundamental freedoms. In this context, a
main objective of the EU is to assist third countries in a situation of crisis or emerging crisis and to
prevent global and trans-regional threats having a destabilising effect.
In this context, discussions have taken place through an ad-hoc working group including the
European External Action Service (EEAS), Commission services (Development and Cooperation,
European Community Humanitarian Office, Joint Research Centre), the European Union Satellite
Centre (EUSC), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Defence Agency (EDA).
Lessons learned through G-MOSAIC and the discussions with stakeholders in the working group
steered the requirements for pre-operational services and additional research activities.
The Copernicus services for security applications are still in a development phase. At present, the
three priority areas are addressed by a series of EU-funded projects.
INFRASTRUCTURE
The provision of Copernicus services is based on the processing of environmental data collected
from two main sources:
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A space component, which consists of several Earth observation satellites;
An in situ component, which consist of a multitude of sensors on the ground, at sea or in the
air.
The European Space Agency (ESA) is responsible for the space component and coordinates the
delivery of data from upwards of 30 satellites.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) is responsible for the development of the in situ
component and coordinates the gathering of data coming from both European and non-European
organisations.
SPACE COMPONENT
The Copernicus Space Component, which is placed under ESA's responsibility, consists of two
different types of satellite missions: the Contributing Missions, which are operated by national,
European or international organisations and already provide a wealth of data for Copernicus
services, and the Sentinels, which are currently being developed for the specific needs of the
Copernicus programme.
The Sentinels will provide a unique set of observations for Copernicus. They will consist of five
different families, the first of which is scheduled to launch in 2014:

Sentinel-1 will provide all-weather, day and night radar imagery for land and ocean
services. The first Sentinel-1 satellite is planned for launch in 2014.
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Sentinel-2 will provide high-resolution optical imagery for land services. It will provide for
example, imagery of vegetation, soil and water cover, inland waterways and coastal areas.
Sentinel-2 will also deliver information for emergency services. The first Sentinel-2 satellite
is planned for launch in 2014.
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Sentinel-3 will provide high-accuracy optical, radar and altimetry data for marine and land
services. It will measure variables such as sea-surface topography, sea- and land-surface
temperature, ocean colour and land colour with high-end accuracy and reliability. The first
Sentinel-3 satellite is planned for launch in 2014 with routine operations shared between
ESA and EUMETSAT.
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Sentinel-4 will provide data for atmospheric composition monitoring. Sentinel-4 will be a
payload embarked on Meteosat Third Generation (MTG), which is scheduled to be launched
around 2020 and which will be operated by EUMETSAT.
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Sentinel-5 will also be dedicated to atmospheric composition monitoring. Sentinel-5 will be
a payload embarked on a MetOp Second Generation satellite, also known as Post-EPS, to be
launched in 2020 timeframe and which will also be operated by EUMETSAT.
A satellite mission called Sentinel-5 Precursor is also planned to launch in 2015 in order to reduce
data gaps between Envisat and Sentinel-5.
Contributing Missions are missions from ESA, their Member States, Eumetsat and other European
and international third party mission operators that make some of their data available for
Copernicus.
There are around 30 existing or planned Contributing Missions. They fall into the following
categories: Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), optical sensors, altimetry systems, radiometers and
spectrometers.
Even when the Sentinels are operational, the Contribution Missions will continue to be essential,
delivering complementary data to ensure that a whole range of observational requirements is
satisfied.
The Copernicus Space Component is completed by a ground segment whose role is to provide
access to Sentinel and Contributing Mission data.
The ground segment, which is spread geographically, relies on existing national public and private
facilities along with international agencies with the total infrastructure being coherently managed. It
also comprises the "mission control", which will operate the Sentinel satellites and the facilities to
handle the data received from the Sentinels, and will elaborate the data into products for Copernicus
Services.