Future Sentinels for Copernicus

The main criterion used to define the first generation of the Copernicus Space Component (CSC) was to ensure the enhanced continuity of observations from successful pre-operational research-driven space sensors deployed by Europe. Similarly, an objective for the future evolution of the CSC is to ensure that “evolutions of the requirements framework shall also incorporate the results of capability-driven and technology-driven R&D to improve the match between user needs and the services offered” (ESA-EU Copernicus Agreement). This is being pursued by ESA with the view to provide information for early consideration in the requirement definition phase of the CSC evolution. In this context, reflections on observation capability are made that aim to address new and emerging applications, under the constraint that the ability to retrieve geo-/bio-physical parameters of interest from the novel measurements is mature, well proven, and documented.
Some observation concepts stemming from developments by ESA and national Agencies have been identified that can be considered for near-term implementation, i.e. for deployment around 2025. The presentation will provides an overview of these concepts and the gaps in operational observations they would address in the context of the respective Copernicus services. It will also include a first outlook for concepts deployable over a longer time horizon, relevant for consideration in future analyses for the next generation of CSC.

The CO2 Copernicus Report of the European Commission intends to provide a vision and a strategy for a European integrated observation system dedicated to the monitoring of fossil carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, with independent atmospheric observations. The construction and operation of this system should be undertaken within the Copernicus program.

The presentation will discuss satellite and in-situ atmospheric measurements that should enable the accurate, transparent and consistent quantification of fossil CO2 emissions and their trends at the scale of megacities, important industrial sites, small regions, countries, and the Earth as a whole.
Atmospheric measurements are to be used in an operational system that comprises three complementary components:

1- Atmospheric CO2 measurements obtained from dedicated space-borne sensors, complemented by in-situ networks, which both allow for the separation of fossil CO2 emissions from natural fluxes;

2- The operational provision of bottom-up fossil CO2 emission maps, with high spatial and temporal resolution, and near real time updates;

3- An operational data-assimilation system, which will integrate atmospheric measurements with bottom-up information into consistent and accurate estimates of fossil CO2 emissions and their trends.

The presentation will identify current and future scientific and technical capacities that could enable such an observation system, with operational and internationally coordinated capabilities in the 2030s.

Sentinel-2 provides high-resolution multi-spectral imaging from the visible to the shortwave infrared (SWIR) regions. Thermal imagery, in combination with the imagery provided by Sentinel-2, is essential for many applications and services, particularly in the domains of agriculture, of urban and regional environmental monitoring and of hazards. Application examples include: water management; water stress in crops and in general evapotranspiration in vegetation, supporting crop (yield) monitoring and agricultural applications in general.

According to the FAO, “most of future growth in crop production in developing countries is likely to come from intensification, with irrigation playing an increasingly strategic role through improved water services, water-use efficiency improvements, yield growth and higher cropping intensities”. On average, the current water use efficiency is only about 40%. Land surface temperature obtained from thermal imagery can be ingested into soil vegetation-atmosphere transfer models to derive several key variables such as evaporation by soil and transpiration by vegetation (evapotranspiration), crop water requirements and water stress. These, together with information on crop characterization (species, development stage, Leaf Area Index, etc) are essential to better manage water from field to river basin scales. Ingestion into new hydrological models will help simulating the whole functioning of river basins.

Other TIR imagery application areas include urban heat islands; monitoring of volcanoes, fires, industrial plants and accidents; epidemiology; etc. Among current Copernicus services, land and emergency management will especially benefit from new thermal imaging data.

TBD

During the last decade it has become evident that hyperspectral remote sensing has developed from being largely aircraft based to full spaceborne capabilities with the development of a number of satellite spectrometer missions planned to be launched in the next few years. The technical committee on Geoscience Spaceborne Imaging Spectroscopy at IEEE GRSS has identified almost 20 individual hyperspectral missions in preparation or being planned, amongst them EnMAP from DLR, Germany, Shalom, a joint Italian-Israeli mission, GISAT from ISRO, PRISMA from ASI, to name a few. NASA, ESA, JAXA, ISRO, ASI, DLR, CSIRO, CSA and CNSA are working on concepts for application-driven spaceborne imaging spectrometer missions. This development was mainly driven by the increasing availability of airborne hyperspectral systems. Those systems, mainly provided by commercial SME’s, fostered the development of many new application fields. In the presentation examples from geology, pedology, agriculture and ecosystem conservation will be given, revealing the potential of new spectroscopy based products. At the same time the status of calibration, pre-processing and information extraction procedures will be discussed. User requirements studies currently undertaken to evaluate the operational potential of hyperspectral missions will be presented.

The policy context for the European Union (EU) and the related challenges have been undergoing significant changes and have introduced new priorities for the EU policies. Among those are climate change and the pressure on natural resources, as well as the migration issue and a better management of the EU external borders, energy and the global security issues of an interconnected world. Copernicus has to respond to the evolution of EU policy priorities by adapting and possibly expanding the Copernicus observation infrastructure, while guaranteeing the necessary continuity of observations and services. To this end the Commission has recently launched a User Requirement Study to capture these evolving requirements and the resulting needs for spaceborne observations. In parallel, discussion with the European Space Agency and other stakeholders have started. It has to be said however, that the involvement of the European Commission will be subject to its normal decision making process in preparing a possible future regulation and the next Multi-annual framework of the EU.