Users of data from the European Union’s (EU’s) Copernicus Earth observation (EO) programme are benefitting from a wealth of new data following the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem going into full service in 2023
Starion is supporting the new Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem with the integration of datasets from Copernicus Contributing Missions (CCM), which deliver complementary Earth observation data in addition to the data provided by the Sentinel satellites.
The EU’s Copernicus programme is the biggest provider of EO data in the world, generating petabytes of data and information every year. Many sectors, including agriculture, finance, emergency and disaster recovery, as well as activities relating to climate change monitoring, rely on it to support a range of business-critical applications. To further this significant impact, the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem service is designed to meet users’ current and predicted requirements for data processing and distribution, which have far exceeded the initial expectations when Copernicus was launched.
The Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem project kicked off in December 2022, and builds on existing distribution services and Data Information Access Services. Starion is a member of the industrial team, led by T-Systems, that is working on the Service under the guidance of the European Space Agency (ESA), with objectives set by the European Commission.
Starion’s role is integrating data from the many CCMs, which include missions from ESA Member States, commercial very high resolution optical and radar operators, and other European and international third parties. Prior to the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem going live, users did not have a single source from which to access both Sentinel and CCM data. Starion’s experts have implemented software routines and procedures to ensure the continuous and timely update of CCM datasets on the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem, including any new ones introduced in the future through new agreements between ESA and CCM data providers.
Unlike Sentinel data, for which completely free and open access is guaranteed, access to CCM data is regulated by dedicated terms and conditions. Starion has therefore also supported the CDSE Consortium in setting up and managing the corresponding licenses needed for coordinating access to CCM datasets by the various categories of Copernicus users. A highlight is that all CDSE users will have access to the viewing services for CCM data through the CDSE web-based application.
The new service provides a variety of interfaces, including data download, cloud-optimised formats and streamlined access APIs that can provide pre-processed data. Other features include on-demand processors for building non-default formats, and scalable cloud resources optimised for EO tasks. All data managed within the new service will be traceable, in response to the increasing image manipulation capabilities of machine and deep learning algorithms.
The Copernicus data archive is currently 78 petabytes (including 500 terabytes of CCM data) and is anticipated to continue growing in the coming years. As new CCM datasets are published, Starion will continue ingesting them into the Ecosystem. Additionally, Starion has defined requirements for the next very high resolution (VHR 2024) optical datasets, with deliveries due to start at the end of this year, while some collections are being reprocessed and reingested for making available to users of the HVR view services.
The vast majority of capabilities offered by the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem are free to access, funded by the EU, with additional free resources for research and pre-commercial exploitation. Commercial terms are available for larger-scale operations through the CREODIAS service.
The service contract for the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem project has a duration of 6 years, with an option to extend it up to 10 years.
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