Gilles OLLIERHead of Sector EUROPEAN COMMISSIONEarth Observation DG RTD 15 September 2006 (Constanta - Romania) Europe and the GEO initiative GEO welcomes FP7

2 KEY INITIATIVES FOR EARTH OBSERVATION The EU has a long-standing commitment to meet the challenges of sustainable development. The research policy of the Commission contributes to this commitment through the funding of environmental research, including research dealing with Earth Observation. The observation of the Earth plays a key role in the assessment of the environment and in policy making. GLOBAL DIMENSION GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems): GLOBAL DIMENSION Will provide the regulatory framework to facilitate the exchange of data in Europe. INSPIRE directive: Will provide the regulatory framework to facilitate the exchange of data in Europe. SERVICE ORIENTED GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security): SERVICE ORIENTED

3 What is driving the GEO initiative? 3 top science and technology priorities identified at the G8 meeting in Evian in 2003: agriculture, energy and Earth observations FROM first EO SUMMIT in Washington in July 2003 CALL FOR A GREATER INTEGRATION OF EARTH OBSERVATION SYSTEMS INTERNATIONALLY DEVELOPMENT OF A “GLOBAL EARTH OBSERVATION SYSTEM OF SYSTEMS”

4 Reducing loss of life and property from natural and human induced disasters; Understanding environmental factors affecting human health and well being; Improving management of energy resources; Understanding, assessing, predicting, mitigating and adapting to climate variability and change; Improving water resources management through better understanding of the water cycle; Improving weather information, forecasting and warning; Improving the management and protection of terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems; Supporting sustainable agriculture and combating desertification; Understanding, monitoring and conserving biodiversity; 9 Societal benefit areas of GEOSS

5 GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems): Acquire observational data from all different EO platforms; Process data into useful products; Exchanges, disseminates and archives shared data, metadata and products; Undertakes activities to continue EO related Research, capacity building and outreach. Main objectives for GEO

6 GEO STRUCTURE Membership open to all countries of the worldMembership open to all countries of the world –60 countries (plus the EC) endorsed the GEOSS 10-year Implementation plan and are current GEO members; –Contribution to GEOSS on a voluntary basis (no fixed membership fees) International organisations are participantsInternational organisations are participants –43 organizations are represented in GEO GEO SecretariatGEO Secretariat –Permanent GEO Secretariat is being installed at WMO (Geneva) since autumn 2005 GovernanceGovernance –Plenary meetings of all members and participating organisations –Executive committee to ensure the fulfilment of GEO plenary decisions00

7 12 Members elected for 2 years term Regional representations: –Africa (2): Morocco; South Africa (chair) –Americas (3): Brazil; Honduras; US (chair) –Asia + Oceania (3): Japan; Thailand; China (chair) –CIS (1): Russian Federation (Chair) –Europe (3): Germany; Italy; EC (Chair) Elected by regional caucuses GEO Executive Committee

8 4 Co-Chairs –Elected by Plenary from Executive Committee members; –2 from Developing Countries, 2 from Developed Countries: Zheng Guoguang – China (CMA) José Manuel Silva Rodríguez – Europe (EC) Phil MJWARA – South Africa (DST) Conrad Lautenbacher – United States (NOAA) GEO Executive Committee

GEO current status Rules and Procedures adopted GEO Committees in place - Architecture and Data - Capacity Building - Science and Technology - User Interface - Tsunami ad-hoc committee 2006 Work Plan is running Outline Work Plan for years issued

GEO annual WP (currently 2006 WP) Key role of the GEO Committees for the implementation of the annual WP - Architecture and Data (33 tasks) - Capacity Building (19 tasks) - Science and Technology (20 tasks) - User Interface (20 tasks) Completion of each task by: lead organisations, contributing organisations, and user organisations Each Committee prepares a report for the GEO plenary

ARCHITECTURE & DATA COMMITTEE (33 Tasks) Societal Benefit / Transverse Area WORK PLAN TASK DESCRIPTION DISASTERSDI Initiate a globally coordinated warning system for fire and monitoring for forest conversion, including the development of improved information products and risk assessment models WATERWA Facilitate the development of a global dataset that maps catchments to the first and second order stream level for use in applying land cover data to management of catchments and monitoring the hydrological cycle AGRICULTUREAG Initiate an international assessment effort on forests and forest changes utilizing ongoing land cover mapping projects (e.g. GLOBCOVER). Ensure application of standardized classifications and harmonization of existing datasets. DATA MANAGEMENT DA Facilitate the development, availability and harmonization of data, metadata, and products commonly required across diverse societal benefit areas, including base maps, land-cover data sets, and common socio-economic data.

12 USER INTERFACE COMMITTEE (20 Tasks) Societal Benefit / Transverse Area WORK PLAN TASK DESCRIPTION WATER WA Organize workshops on water observations, encompassing space-based, airborne, and in-situ observing systems, and focusing on (i) water quality, including fresh, estuarine, and marine water quality, (ii) ground water, (iii) precipitation, soil moisture, surface water, and (iv) hydrological ensemble-based prediction and new observing techniques and products. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE (20 Tasks) Societal Benefit / Transverse Area WORK PLAN TASK DESCRIPTION AGRICULTURE AG Utilizing global and regional high-resolution land-cover datasets (e.g. GLOBCOVER) and earlier 1-km resolution land cover data sets (e.g. Global Land Cover 2000), implement production of a high-resolution global land-cover change dataset and report. Propose mechanisms for regular analysis and reporting on land cover change building on current efforts and promulgate the use of these products, especially in developing countries.

ROAD MAP OF THE GEO 2006 WORK PLAN 11 AprilGEO Executive Committee final review of 2006 Work Plan 30 April & 31 MaySecretariat issues task sheet updates as available 23 JuneTask sheet updates due to the Secretariat 30 JuneSecretariat issues 2006 Work Plan – Second Quarter Report July-SeptemberCommittees review progress through in-person or electronic review 31 July & 31 AugustSecretariat issues task sheet updates as available 23 SeptemberTask sheet updates due to the Secretariat 30 SeptemberSecretariat issues 2006 Work Plan – Third Quarter Report 13 OctoberCommittee co-chairs provide Secretariat with Reports to Plenary 16 OctoberSecretariat issues GEO-III Plenary documents, including Committee Reports NovemberGEO-III

WORK PLAN Longer term planning: a 3 year WP Continuity with the 2006 WP: 80 of the tasks are to be continued 30 new tasks are proposed

15 30 April:WP draft outline for informal consultation with experts 31 May:WP first draft v.1 for technical review 17 July:All comments are due to the Secretariat 31 July:WP draft v.2 for official comment by members and participating organizations 2 Oct:All comments and recommendations are due to the Secretariat 16 Oct:WP draft final version v.3 28 Nov:GEO-III plenary reviews and accepts the plan Process and Schedule

 Early warning of slowly developing disasters  Strengthen health observation systems  Environment impact of energy extraction/transport  International weather/climate and Earth-system science initiative  Further use of EO within fishery and aquaculture  Apply Earth Observation to protected areas Etc…. Example of new tasks

17 Setting up of a European Geo High Level Working Group (HLWG) –The Commission provides a secretariat for and chairs the HLWG –Role of the HLWG: to develop a European convergent approach within GEO –Example: European position on the GEO WP - Next meeting 11th October 2006 How are we organised in Europe?

18 EUROPEAN PARTICIPATION IN GEO Membership Europe provides 21 of the current GEO membership of 58 countries + European Commission & 7 of the current 43 GEO participating organisations GEO Secretariat GEO Secretariat is supported significantly by European countries and the European Commission (1,8 M€ in ) Governance European members participate to the Plenary meetings and Executive Committee meetings (Co-chaired by European Commission) Committees Europe co-chair capacity building, S&T, and User Interface Committees. Also active in the Architecture & Data Committee

GEO 2006 WP EUROPEAN INPUT FOR THE ANNUAL WP

EUROPEAN CONTRIBUTION TO GEO 2006 WP EUROPEAN ORGANISATIONS Organisations well committed to the GEO tasks (ECMWF, EUMETSAT, ESA, EEA, etc….) EUROPEAN COUNTRIES Large number of institutions contributing at various level (effort still needed to take into account existing national initiatives) EUROPEAN COMMISSION FP6 projects relevant to GEO 2006 WP (SPACE/GMES, ENV, INFSO) - Need still to be properly linked to the GEO tasks - Commission started to contact the projects - New FP6 projects structured to produce GEO deliverables - FP7 organised towards GEO

21 GMES fast track services to be implemented by 2008 Information for Crisis (Emergency) Management Land Monitoring Services Marine Core Services Proposed GMES Pilot Atmospheric Services (2009 ?)

22 The GMES Marine Service chain

23  Project GEOLAND: GMES Integrated Project on Land Monitoring and Vegetation  Objective: to develop and demonstrate a range of reliable, affordable and cost efficient European geo-information services, supporting the implementation of European directives and their national implementation, as well as European and International policies.  to integrate existing technology with innovative and scientifically sound elements into sustainable services.  Partners: 56 from Italy, Belgium, Austria, Germany, The Netherlands, France, Sweden, Czech Republic, UK, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Greece, Russia and Switzerland COORDINATOR: Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschafts- und Landnutzungsforschung Total Costs: 12 M€ - EC Contribution: 9.2 M€ LAND MONITORING (Gmes Fast Track Service )

24 EXAMPLE: INTEGRATED PROJECT EDEN SOCIETAL BENEFIT AREA OF GEOSS: REDUCING OF LIFE AND PROPERTY FROM NATURAL AND HUMAN INDUCED DISASTER  EDEN selected for study a range of diseases that are especially sensitive to environmental changes  EDEN integrates research between 42 leading institutes from 23 countries  EDEN organised and linked by a series of integrative Activities including biodiversity monitoring, environmental change detection, disease modelling, remote sensing and image interpretation  Specific links with third world  Coordinator: Dr Stéphane de La Rocque (Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement à Paris – FR)  Total Costs: 15 M€ - EC Contribution: 11 M€ Emerging diseases in a changing European environment

25 ASCABOS (SSA) : A Supporting Programme for Capacity Building in the Black Sea Region towards Operational Status of Oceanographic Services Communications, data and information exchange are the key elements of the operational ocean monitoring and forecasting networks, defined in the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). Development of observing and closely related operational forecasting system in the Black Sea region requires the exchange of significant data and information volumes. ASCABOS is designed to strengthen the communication system ensuring flexible and operative infrastructure for data and information exchange between partners and end users. Project status – Expected starting date: autumn 2005 – duration 2yrs - Cordinator/contact: Bulgarian Institute of Oceanology

26 GEONETCast Concept Utilisation of existing dissemination infrastructure provided by environmental satellite operators; Provision of environmental satellite and in-situ data and products to Users on a worldwide, operational basis; Established in the GEO context to provide a dissemination component of the GEOSS; Lead organisations are EUMETSAT, NOAA, and WMO;

Through its involvement in GEO, the EU will have the possibility to use GEONETCast for distributing and broadcasting data products generated within GMES and other European Earth Observation initiatives GEONETCast would be a useful tool to support the EU policy towards developing countries Opportunity to demonstrate European capability in technology initially developed through EUMETcast (EUMETSAT) EU INTEREST IN GEONETCast

28 EUMETCast Coverage

29 Funding aspects of GEO GEO is not a funding institution The GEO secretariat has limited resources available to support the basic organisational activities of GEO The development of GEOSS must be supported by the participating organisation GEO has already started to impact on funding agencies plans involving Earth Observation activities (European Commission FP7)