What are the tangible benefits of Copernicus?

As the leading provider of full, free and open access to Earth Observation (EO) data across the globe, Copernicus impacts various economic sectors that influence the societal, economic and environmental progress of today’s world.

To showcase the findings of a recent study, the European Commission published a report and a brochure highlighting the benefits of Copernicus. These publications offer insight as to how our societies are profiting from Copernicus. This is the occasion to look into the many benefits brought about by the Copernicus programme.

Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, stated:

" Earth Observation is a larger market than you would think – a driver for research discoveries,

a provider of highly skilled jobs and a developer of innovative services and applications. "  [1]

Along these lines, the European Union’s Earth Observation programme, Copernicus, makes a significant contribution to the creation and growth of businesses within Space and non-Space economic sector. It enables businesses that tackle environmental challenges and foster societal well-being in the European Union and beyond.

A thorough study [2] has recently been conducted, under contract with the European Commission, to estimate both the benefits the Copernicus programme already provides and those benefits we can expect to reap. Imagine, between 2017 and 2035, Copernicus is expected to generate €67 billion to €131 billion in benefits for European society. Moreover, these benefits outnumber the cost of the programme by a factor of 10 to 20.

The results of this study have been summarised in the newly published brochure about the benefits of the Copernicus programme.

" The study gives a comprehensive and concise overview of the many sectors of the economy and society positively impacted by Copernicus. Yet we are convinced that many benefits stemming from the availability of our open data and information remain to be developed. "

commented Philippe Brunet, Director for Space policy, Copernicus and Defence (European Commission).

" It is essential to show our citizens the cross-cutting potential of Copernicus. Such a

brochure helps us to understand the concrete solutions provided thanks to this programme

and makes us realise the need to strongly support this programme in the long term "

highlighted Françoise Grossetête, member of the European Parliament.

The benefits of Copernicus

One way to categorise the multifaceted benefits of the Copernicus programme is to look at the benefits generated in its upstream and downstream sectors.

In the context of Copernicus, the upstream sector comprises all the actors involved in ensuring the programme is supplied with the appropriate Space data. For example, manufacturers of the Sentinel satellites and their ground segments (which acquires and processes the satellite data), the providers of launch services, optical and radar sensor manufacturers and suppliers of data from Contributing Missions are all participants in the upstream sector.

Expressed in monetary value, the study reveals that the upstream sector of the Copernicus programme has, by leveraging investments, generated €8.3 billion of revenue between 2008 and 2017. Looking at the future, the European Space industry could expect €1 billion of additional revenue every year, thanks to Copernicus between 2017 and 2027. It is also estimated that a total of 4000 jobs depend on Copernicus in the Space Industry.

Satellite images produced by Copernicus Sentinels have an ever-growing number of uses. The image above captures vegetation and wetlands, as well as agricultural and urban areas of the Natural Park of La Breña in Barbate, Cádiz. The geoinformation is represented in highly saturated false colours, which helps detect and interpret information that the human eye would not be able to process. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2018), processed by the Copernicus Support Office using EO Browser.

On the other hand, the downstream sector of the Copernicus programme includes all companies and organisations using Copernicus data to create products and services designed to serve the needs of decision makers, businesses and citizens. Citizens are, in fact, both the end-users of the Copernicus programme and the direct beneficiaries of the Copernicus downstream sector.

According to the study, the Copernicus downstream sector brings about 84% of the benefits of Copernicus. These benefits can be classified in three connected categories: economic, societal, and environmental benefits.

For instance, the economic benefits for the downstream sector are evident from the fact that Copernicus ensures more than 10% of the income of European downstream companies that use its free and open EO data. Several initiatives launched by the European Commission work to increase these benefits by supporting European start-ups and SMEs, boosting the availability and ease of use of Copernicus data and the creation of new businesses and thus, new jobs. These initiatives include the Copernicus Support Office and the Copernicus Start-Up programme, or the recently-launched Copernicus DIAS.

A good example of the benefits of Copernicus for the downstream sector is in the agricultural sector. The agricultural industry’s productivity and eco-friendliness are benefiting from Copernicus-enabled precision farming and sustainable food production methods. (© Stockr)

Regarding environmental benefits, Copernicus is useful for monitoring and fighting air pollution. For instance, numerous Copernicus-based mobile applications are being created, using Copernicus data and information to track air quality, pollen and UV-radiation in European countries. A renowned user of Copernicus is Euronews, a news outlet that embeds Copernicus data into its daily air quality forecasts.

Copernicus also stimulates the renewable energy sector, giving developers a point of reference for selecting locations for onshore and offshore wind farms, as well as marine and wind power installations. Other environment-related areas benefiting from Copernicus include climate change monitoring, forest management, management of natural and ma¬n-made disasters, agriculture, tourism and water resource management.

As for societal benefits, Copernicus is a game-changer. It makes a major contribution towards healthcare – several initiatives have been implemented by the downstream sector to assist in protection against respiratory system diseases or skin damage. Hundreds of lives are saved thanks to faster response to natural disasters or improved border surveillance facilitated by the use of Copernicus data and information. Additionally, international organisations such as UNESCO use Copernicus data to preserve world cultural heritage by assessing actual and potential damages to natural and historical sites, as well as preventing or mitigating their destruction.

The time-lapse above shows the change of Larnaca Salt Lake in Cyprus and the surrounding territories over the course of a year. During the winter, the lake fills with water, whereas the water evaporates during the hot summer season, leaving a bright-coloured crust of salt. This lake is of high ecological significance and hence, the entire area is included in the Natura 2000 Network as a Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2018), processed by the Copernicus Support Office using EO Browser.

Furthermore, Copernicus data and information assists policy decision-making regarding various societal issues, including humanitarian crises. For instance, Copernicus is commonly used to provide timely and accurate geospatial data for planning of refugee camps, for coastal monitoring, monitoring of international waters, as well as vessel detection and tracking, which has already helped in rescuing hundreds of people.

Any decision aimed at tackling environmental issues can be backed up by Copernicus data and information thus helping policymakers ensure that Europeans are on the right track towards a greener future. Sentinel image (false colours) of Lisbon, the 2020 European Green Capital Award winner. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2018), processed by the Copernicus Support Office using EO Browser.

Copernicus directly and indirectly benefits many other areas that influence our daily lives. On the global scale, Copernicus ensures the long-term autonomy of the European Union in terms of sustainable and regular access to EO data. With a bit of skill and curiosity, every citizen can further unleash the potential of the Copernicus programme by having full, free and open access to Copernicus data.

Discover the many benefits of the Copernicus programme in our newly-published brochure, which is accessible here. If you are interested to read the full study, you can find it here.