Division 5.1 Satellite –Based and In-Situ Observation

The majority of the geospatial information provided by the mapping component of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) shall be derived from satellite remote sensing data and completed by available in situ or open data sources. The satellite imagery shall be provided through the Copernicus Contributing missions (CCMs) as well as Sentinel 1 and 2 observations ensuring the whole range of observational requirements needed. In-situ data for the mapping component shall be provided through open source and/or data made available by the national mapping and cadaster agencies (NMCA) in line with a bilateral agreement between NMCA's and the EEA.

The early warning component of CEMS shall use of all the available imagery from the Sentinels satellites, currently Sentinel-1 and Sentinel -2 (forest fire) and Sentinel 3. Due to the need of high frequency data acquisition for its near-real time assessment of fire damages, use is also made of other sensors such as MODIS and VIIRS for medium spatial resolution and a suit of high-spatial resolution imagery from Landsat, SPOT and IRS satellites, among other. Variables such as snow water equivalent and soil moisture which are used in the floods early warning component shall be derived from sensors on board the Metop and DMSP satellites.

In situ data shall include airborne (such as aircraft and UAV) observations. For the early warning component the in situ component shall comprehend hydro-meteorological observations from the relevant national and regional authorities.