The benefits of Copernicus’ Sentinel data to society, environment and economy [Jun/2020]
The European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC) aims to gather quantitative evidence that the usage of Copernicus Sentinel data provides an effective and convenient support to various market applications. 20 case studies have been conducted to this end or are currently undertaken in the frame of the project “Showcasing the benefits brought by the usage of Sentinels data to society, environment and economy: a bottom-up assessment based on traceable impacts along selected value chains”. This project’s studies were undertaken under an assignment from the European Space Agency (ESA), and funded by the European Commission as part of the Copernicus Programme. The project started in March 2017 and will end in mid-2021.
The products and services which use data coming from Sentinel satellites are presented in the case studies. They are located all across Europe and sometimes even beyond, and range within a large panel of industry sectors (precision agriculture, winter navigation, flood management …). The impact assessment methodology of these products or services consists in tracking the use of the data throughout the value chain, the starting point being the primary user of the satellite data, followed by a step-by-step analysis whereby the operations of beneficiaries in each subsequent link of the value chain are analysed, all the way down to citizens and society.
The value generated using satellite-based Earth Observations (EO) and particularly the data coming from the Copernicus Sentinel satellites is important. Therefore, the case studies underline the causal relationship between the use of this data and the benefits resulting from it, including increased productivity, more efficient and environmental-friendly operations, economic gains, and improved quality of life.
The evaluated and demonstrated benefits can be used by various stakeholders such as:
- Policy makers to justify public investments made in the Copernicus programme
- Space agencies to demonstrate that the technology for which they have public responsibility is capable of delivering strong, beneficial results
- Other public agencies using EO data and services to meet their operational requirements (e.g. the European Environment Agency and European Maritime Safety Agency)
- Companies to promote their capabilities and the power of their products and services.
To access the case studies and more detailed information, please click here.