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Published: 12 Feb
2010
The European Environment Agency (EEA) has
started coordinating data flows from ground,
sea and air observations, which will be
used for Global Monitoring for Environment
and Security (GMES) services. Building on
existing mechanisms and capacities, EEA
will develop an innovative and sustainable
framework to make the data accessible.
GMES is a joint initiative
of the European Union and the European Space
Agency. Using a combination of space observation,
localised monitoring, and analysis, it provides
timely information on the state of the environment
and security issues such as natural and
man-made crises.
The first pilot services
(marine, land, emergency response, atmosphere)
are running in a pre-operational phase.
The EEA has signed a EUR 3 million contract
with the European Commission to coordinate
in situ data flows over the next three years.
Its long experience
in managing networks of data providers makes
the EEA a natural partner in GMES in several
ways — bringing together user needs, helping
operate some services and securing necessary
data from numerous European partners. The
contract, which will run for three years
under the EU’s 7th Framework Programme,
is an important step in ensuring that the
mechanisms are in place to move GMES beyond
the pilot phase.
The EEA will focus on:
promoting cooperation
with relevant networks, with a particular
focus on the links with SEIS (Shared Environmental
Information System) and INSPIRE (Infrastructure
for Spatial Information in the European
Community);
clarifying the data
requirements of the GMES services;
designing long-term
sustainable solutions to meet data needs;
case studies and quick
wins.
GMES, INSPIRE and SEIS
GMES is one of three
key European initiatives, alongside SEIS
and INSPIRE, that respond in different ways
to new pressures in the environmental information
marketplace — new environmental issues,
changing citizen expectations, more complex
policy instruments, and the need to reduce
costs. The EEA will work to exploit the
ways in which these initiatives can be complementary.
