1. Vojko Bratina European Commission DG Research - Directorate Environment – RTD.I Unit I4 - Management of Natural Resources – RTD.I.4 New initiatives and projects sponsored by EC ADC 8 meeting Boulder, 22-23 September 2008

4. lGEO activities have now visibility as FP7 Research opportunities on Environment lReference to GEO WP tasks in FP7 WP always present lEC funding strategy in 3 phases so far: l1 st call-2007: Initial minor-medium sized projects selected to cover SBA acitivities (11 projects) l2 nd call-2008: big projects as a major contribution to GEO infrastructure (4 projects)-tasks overseen by ADC l3 rd call-2009: consolidation phase (6-7 projects, tbd) GEO activities within FP7

5. lResearch activities focusing on the development and integration of GEOSS in the context of the GEO initiative lInteroperability between observation systems, information management and data sharing lOptimisation of information for understanding, modelling and predicting environment phenomena lA strong emphasis was put on the need to integrate the European Earth Observation related research activities into the global picture. FP7 Call 2007 FP7-ENV-2007-1 22 December 2006 -02 May 2007 Indicative Budget: € 21 000 000

6. lENV.2007.4.1.1.1 Monitoring of the carbon cycle at global level lENV.2007.4.1.1.2 Contribution to a global biodiversity observation system lENV.2007.4.1.3.2 Monitoring the ocean interior, seafloor and subseafloor lENV.2007.4.1.3.3 Development of a Global Soil Observing System lENV.2007.4.1.4.1 Georesource information system for Africa lENV.2007.4.1.4.2 Improving observing systems for water resource management lENV.2007.4.1.4.3 GEONETCast applications for developing countries FP7 Call 2007 Sub-Activity 6.4.1 Earth and Ocean Observation Systems and monitoring methods for the environment and sustainable development

7. lTo test, with the collaboration of developing countries, the GEONETCast concept currently developed through GEO by which environmental satellite and in situ data and products from participating data providers within GEO would be transmitted to all users through a global network of communications satellites, using a multicast access controlled broadband capability. lThe project should address a limited number of pilot cases through which environmental data transmission and exchange covering some or all of the 9 societal benefit areas of GEO could be operated by using the GEONETCast protocol and involving European projects participants and International Co-operation Partner Countries (ICPC). lFunding scheme: coordination and supporting action lExpected impact: Relevant organisations in the developing countries start using broadcast environment data received through GEONETCast pilot cases and benefit from development of the people capacity in those countries to use GEONETCast in local/national planning and decision making. ENV.2007.4.1.4.3. GEONETCast applications for developing countries

8. lDevCoCast aims at involving Developing Countries in the GEONETCast initiative, providing reliable and fast access to environmental information. lThe DevCoCast project will disseminate existing environmental added-value datasets (both in-situ and satellite based) from various sources in Africa, South- and Central America and Europe in (near) real time and at no cost via EONETCast to a broad range of user communities in Developing Countries lThe use of the existing EUMETCast dissemination system will take benefit from the operational infrastructures and from a well developed user base in Africa and South-America. lThe project will set up a number of pilot cases in Africa, South- and Central America and Asia and is conceived to have a big impact with a limited budget, by building upon existing production (SPOT-VEGETATION a.o.) and dissemination infrastructures (EUMETCast, FengYunCast), existing research projects (GEOLAND, VGT4AFRICA, MERSEA, GOOS, YEOS a.o.) and servicing all relevant environmental end-user communities. ENV.2007.4.1.4.3. DevCoCast GEONETCast for and by Developing countries

10. lBuilding of an information system containing and making available African Geological resources lThe preparatory phase of the project should comply with the objectives of GEOSS and the EU development policy for the use of the Georesource data which are primarily to be shared with the African countries. lFunding scheme: coordination and supporting action lExpected impact: Safeguarding/protecting observation data for Georesources in Africa as well as helping exploiting the relevant observing systems. lAEGOS is a project capable of hosting and providing access to Africa’s geological resources, including groundwater, energy, raw materials and mineral resources. lIt will define: i) operational procedures for data management (Spatial Data Infrastructure, metadata and data specification) ii) user-oriented products and services including the preparation of innovative spin off projects based on AEGOS and an evaluation of the input of Interoperability and interdisciplinary in support of GEOSS iii) the African- European partner network iv) a geoscience contribution to GEOSS, in the context of INSPIRE ENV.2007.4.1.4.1. Georesource information system for Africa

12. l> Preparatory phase for the building of a pan-African information system on Africa’s geology and related resources: raw material, minerals, groundwater, energy, etc. l> Distributed architecture of national multidisciplinary data sets presently disseminated and managed by African and Europeangeological surveys l> Internet and satellite-based access to public geoscientific metadata and harmonised data l> User-oriented products and services: customized decision-support systems combining georesource information with socio-economic and sustainable development indicators l> Operational procedures and open standards to browse interoperable spatial information: ISO/CEN, OGC (WMS, WFS), IUGS/CGI (GeoSciML) l> Capacity building and training programmes l> Permanent network of institutions and geoscientists to facilitate cross-border and continental overviews AEGOS project highlights

13. lResearch effort to comply with the requirements under the INSPIRE (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe) directive and under the tasks overseen by the GEO Architecture and Data Committee lThe INSPIRE Directive 2007/2/EC adopted in March 2007 establishes an infrastructure for spatial information in Europe to improve the accessibility and interoperability of spatial needed for environmental policy making and monitoring. The successful implementation of this Directive will go a long way towards overcoming existing inefficiencies relating to the use and usability of spatial data held by public authorities. lScience necessary to better assess the impact of energy exploitation on the environment, in coordination with similar requirements under the Energy tasks of the 2007-09 Work Plan of GEO lNecessary research to better monitor and observe oxygen depletion in all the components of the Earth System lResearch contributing to capacity building efforts towards the new countries of the EU in the domain of Earth Observation FP7 Call 2008 FP7-ENV-2008-1 30 November 2007 - 25 February 2008 Indicative Budget: € 21 000 000

14. lResearch effort to comply with the requirements under the INSPIRE (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe) directive and under the tasks overseen by the GEO Architecture and Data Committee lThe INSPIRE Directive 2007/2/EC adopted in March 2007 establishes an infrastructure for spatial information in Europe to improve the accessibility and interoperability of spatial needed for environmental policy making and monitoring. The successful implementation of this Directive will go a long way towards overcoming existing inefficiencies relating to the use and usability of spatial data held by public authorities. lScience necessary to better assess the impact of energy exploitation on the environment, in coordination with similar requirements under the Energy tasks of the 2007-09 Work Plan of GEO lNecessary research to better monitor and observe oxygen depletion in all the components of the Earth System lResearch contributing to capacity building efforts towards the new countries of the EU in the domain of Earth Observation FP7 Call 2008 FP7-ENV-2008-1 30 November 2007 - 25 February 2008 Indicative Budget: € 21 000 000

15. lENV.2008.4.1.1.1 European Environment Earth Observation system supporting INSPIRE and compatible with the GEOSS lENV.2008.4.1.2.1 Cross-cutting research activities relevant to GEO lENV.2008.4.1.3.1 Developing Earth Observation for the monitoring and prediction of environmental impacts from energy resource extraction, transportation and/or exploitation lENV.2007.4.1.4.1 developing necessary research activities for capacity building relevant to Earth Observation and GEO in the Black Sea basin l4 winning projects selected FP7 Call 2008 Sub-Activity 6.4.1 Earth and Ocean Observation Systems and monitoring methods for the environment and sustainable development

16. lThe project will address scientific and technical feasibility of the European Environment Earth Observation System necessary for the implementation of the INSPIRE directive lThe project will take into account the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) needed for the GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems) architecture described in GEO tasks AR-07-01, AR-07-02, AR-07-03, and AR-07-04 lThe project will need as broad as possible participation of international and national initiatives, in particular to harmonise as much as possible European efforts through the INSPIRE, GMES and GEO initiatives. lFunding scheme: collaborative project (large-scale integrating project) in support to Policy lExpected impact: Validated European system for geo-spatial information in Europe contributing to the implementation of the INSPIRE directive and fully compatible with GEOSS. ENV.2008.4.1.1.1. European Environment Earth Observation system supporting INSPIRE and compatible with the GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems)

17. lEuroGEOSS demonstrates the added value to the scientific community and society of making existing systems and applications interoperable and used within the GEOSS and INSPIRE frameworks. lA dedicated project funded to see how INSPIRE works within GEOSS lThe project will build an initial operating capacity for a European Environment Earth Observation System in the three strategic areas : Drought, Forestry, Biodiversity lAn advanced operating capacity is also developed, providing analytical models useable by scientists from different disciplinary domains lThe extension of INSPIRE and GEOSS components with concepts emerging in the Web 2.0 communities in respect to user interactions and resource discovery, also supports the wider engagement of the scientific community with GEOSS as a powerful means to improve the scientific understanding of the complex mechanisms driving the changes that affect our planet. lLeading entity: Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (France) + 22 other partners ENV.2008.4.1.1.1. EuroGEOSS European approach to GEOSS

18. overall structure of the project and the context within which it is framed.

19. lArea 6.4.1.1 - Integration of European activities within GEO ENV.2009.4.1.1.1 Contribution to observing systems for seismogenic hazards (large scale integrating project) lArea 6.4.1.2 - Cross-cutting research activities relevant to GEO ENV.2009.4.1.2.1 Further structuring the European approach to Earth Observation (supporting action) lArea 6.4.1.3 - Earth Observation activities in emerging areas ENV.2009.4.1.3.1 Contribution to observing systems for environment and health monitoring and modelling (large scale integrating project) ENV.2009.4.1.3.2 Earth observation in support of a sustainable exploitation of mineral resources (small- or medium scale focused research project) SICA lArea 6.4.1.4 - Developing capacity building activities in the domain of Earth Observation in the new EU countries and in the developing countries ENV.2009.4.1.4.1 Action in the domain of EO to support capacity building in GEO; two participants from developing countries are required (supporting action) CALL 2009 (September 2008-January 2009) Indicated budget ~ 20 MEUR (cordis.europa.eu)