- June 19, 2005
- Posted by: EARSC
- Category: Archive
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A major section on the subject of Earth Observation (EO) has been
added to the EU Environment Research website. Several new pages are now
accessible via the website’s homepage, comprising background
information and up-to-date reports on the activities of the Group on
Earth Observations (GEO) and the EO Summits, the most recent of which
took place in Brussels in February 2005 during Earth & Space Week.
added to the EU Environment Research website. Several new pages are now
accessible via the website’s homepage, comprising background
information and up-to-date reports on the activities of the Group on
Earth Observations (GEO) and the EO Summits, the most recent of which
took place in Brussels in February 2005 during Earth & Space Week.
Earth
Observation (EO) technologies provide powerful tools for monitoring the
state of the planet and the global impact of human activities. EO
comprises in situ observation, that is direct observation carried out
in close proximity to the object or phenomenon of interest, and remote
sensing, or observation from a distance. Examples of EO at work today
include thousands of data buoys operating in the world??s oceans,
hundreds of thousands of land-based environmental stations on the
ground, tens of thousands of observations by radiosondes and aircrafts
in the air, and over 50 environmental satellites orbiting the globe.
Observation (EO) technologies provide powerful tools for monitoring the
state of the planet and the global impact of human activities. EO
comprises in situ observation, that is direct observation carried out
in close proximity to the object or phenomenon of interest, and remote
sensing, or observation from a distance. Examples of EO at work today
include thousands of data buoys operating in the world??s oceans,
hundreds of thousands of land-based environmental stations on the
ground, tens of thousands of observations by radiosondes and aircrafts
in the air, and over 50 environmental satellites orbiting the globe.
Today, people and governments around the
globe are putting environmental data to good use, estimating crop
yields, monitoring water and air quality and improving airline safety.
Up-to-date weather and pollution reports are examples of high-quality
Earth Observation-based services of direct interest to the average
citizen, but EO data is used in a wide variety of other fields,
impacting on both economies and ecosystems and playing a key role in
improving the quality of life of people on every continent.
globe are putting environmental data to good use, estimating crop
yields, monitoring water and air quality and improving airline safety.
Up-to-date weather and pollution reports are examples of high-quality
Earth Observation-based services of direct interest to the average
citizen, but EO data is used in a wide variety of other fields,
impacting on both economies and ecosystems and playing a key role in
improving the quality of life of people on every continent.
Europe is one of the world??s leading
players in the advancement of EO technologies and related environmental
applications. European remote sensing satellites cover all of the
Earth’s climatic zones, while European ground-based, air-based and
ocean-based monitoring devices serve users by providing high quality
observation data in areas as diverse as urban planning, adaptation to
and mitigation of climate change, disaster reduction, disease control
and humanitarian relief.
players in the advancement of EO technologies and related environmental
applications. European remote sensing satellites cover all of the
Earth’s climatic zones, while European ground-based, air-based and
ocean-based monitoring devices serve users by providing high quality
observation data in areas as diverse as urban planning, adaptation to
and mitigation of climate change, disaster reduction, disease control
and humanitarian relief.
Yet, while research and technological
development (RTD) has succeeded in providing instruments and systems
that now generate literally millions of environment-related data sets,
there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of the
interoperability of these systems and the effective and efficient
management, integration and distribution of data in support of the
citizens of every nation. In addition, significant blind spots in our
observation and understanding of the Earth still remain, requiring
targeted activities to fill the gaps. Concerted research activities are
needed to support all of this important work.
development (RTD) has succeeded in providing instruments and systems
that now generate literally millions of environment-related data sets,
there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of the
interoperability of these systems and the effective and efficient
management, integration and distribution of data in support of the
citizens of every nation. In addition, significant blind spots in our
observation and understanding of the Earth still remain, requiring
targeted activities to fill the gaps. Concerted research activities are
needed to support all of this important work.
Info extracted from EU DG-Research
