Copernicus Satellite Data

Copernicus is the Earth observation component of the EU Space Programme. It combines satellite data with in-situ measurements to deliver reliable information services. The project began in 1998 with the Baveno Manifesto, which called for the creation of a Global Environmental Monitoring Service (GMES). It was later renamed Copernicus, and its first satellites were launched in 2014. The project has been steadily expanding since.

The European Union is the owner of the Copernicus Sentinel satellites, which are developed by the European Space Agency with the European space industry. Other governments or commercial satellites also regularly provide supporting data.

The satellites are organized into 6 missions which focus on the following:

  1. Radar imagery for monitoring weather conditions
  2. Optical imagery for crop monitoring, land mapping and disaster management
  3. Optical, thermal, microwave, and altimetry instruments for tracking large scale environmental changes
  4. Air quality measurements
  5. Atmospheric composition monitoring
  6. Global sea surface height measurements for operational oceanography and climate studies.

Access to the data is provided through dedicated Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem. The data is free and open in full. Further on, Copernicus provides the following services:

  • Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)
  • Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S)
  • Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS)
  • Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (CLMS)
  • Copernicus Marine Service (CMEMS)
  • Copernicus Security Service (CSS)
  • Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem

The Copernicus Data SpaceEcosystem supports users in accessing, viewing, using, downloading, and analyzing data. It provides access to almost all historical data available from the Sentinel satellite constellations, as well as supporting data and other publicly available material. The service aims to support users in building various applications needed to provide accurate, timely and objective information.

The Arctic Hub

The Copernicus service groups their data into hubs based on various themes. The Copernicus Arctic Hub provides access to data and information in the Arctic. It was created to provide data visualizations and services specifically for the Arctic region, such as support to Sea Ice Services, shipping routes, maritime operations, climate change mitigation and research projects, sustainability and international cooperation.

Links:Copernicus, Arctic Hub, Copernicus data