AHEAD is a European Union Horizon 2020 programme project. The overall objective of AHEAD is to integrate national efforts in high-energy Astrophysics and to promote the domain at the European level, to keep its community at the cutting edge of science and technology in this competitive research area and ensure that space observatories for high-energy astrophysics are at the state of the art. AHEAD will integrate key research infrastructures for on-ground test and calibration of space-based sensors and electronics and promote their coordinated use. In parallel, the best facilities for data analysis of high-energy astrophysical observatories will be made available to the European community. The technological development will focus on the improvement of selected critical technologies, background modeling, cross calibration, and feasibility studies of space-based instrumentation for the benefit of future X-ray and gamma-ray missions, and the best exploitation of existing observatories. AHEAD will support the community via grants for collaborative studies, dissemination of results, and promotion of workshops. A strong public outreach package will ensure that the domain is well publicized at national, European and International level. The virtual circle infrastructure - networking - joint research activities, as devised in AHEAD, serves to establish strong connections between institutes and industry to create the basis for a more rapid advancement of high-energy astrophysical science, space-oriented instrumentation and cutting-edge sensor technology in Europe. This enables the development of new technologies and the associated growth of the European technology market, - with a dedicated technology innovation package - as well as the creation of a new generation of researchers.
Coordinator: Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali – InafPartners: UT Tartu Observatory, Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior De Investigaciones Cientificas, Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique, Centrum Astronomiczne Im. Mikolaja Kopernika Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Ceske Vysoke Uceni Technicke V Praze, Commissariat A L Energie Atomique Et Aux Energies Alternatives, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet, Eberhard Karls Universitaet Tuebingen, Istituto Di Astrofisica E Planetologia Spaziali Inaf, Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratorio De Instrumentacao E Fisica Experimental De Particulas, Lancaster University, Max Planck Gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Wissenschaften E.V, National Observatory Of Athens, Stichting Sron Netherlands Institute For Space Research, Teknologian Tutkimuskeskus Vtt, Thales Alenia Space Italia Spa, Universidad De Alicante, Universita Degli Studi Di Ferrara, Universita Degli Studi Di Genova, Universita Degli Studi Di Palermo, Universita Degli Studi Di Perugia, Universite De Geneve, Universite De Liege, University College Dublin, National University Of Ireland, Dublin
Start date: 1.09.2015End date: 28.02.2019
Budget: 5 085 247 €EU finances: 4 982 477 €
Project webpageEstonian Research Information System webpageEstonian Research Council's Webpage for Succesful Projects
Earth Observation-based Services for Monitoring and Reporting of Ecological Status
EOMORES (Earth Observation-based Services for Monitoring and Reporting of Ecological Status) aims to develop new highly efficient commercial services for operational inland and coastal ecological water quality monitoring. Inland and coastal water bodies constitute essential components of ecology and biodiversity, they buffer climate change and influence many aspects of economy (recreation, fisheries) and human welfare (e.g. drinking water supply). Knowledge about the state of these waters is therefore of great importance. This is recognized by the Water Framework Directive (WFD) requiring the EU member states to monitor and improve the status of these water bodies. EOMORES will develop fully-automated commercial, reliable and sustainable services based on the integration of Earth observation (Sentinel 1, 2 and 3), in situ monitoring using optical in situ sensors with integrated GNSS positioning, and ecological modeling. The validated data from these components will be flexibly combined into higher-level products to fit the users’ information needs. Three service concepts are envisaged: 1) operational water quality monitoring and forecasting for operational water management, 2) implementation of validated EO-based water quality indicators for WFD and other reporting and 3) historic compilation of data for specific ecological analysis. The target users of EOMORES are international, national and regional authorities responsible for monitoring and management of water quality and for WFD reporting. Additional targeted users are private entities dealing with water quality. Thirteen users from six countries have committed to collaborate with the consortium to define and evaluate the EOMORES services. The services are expected to result in lower operational costs, more reliable and more timely water quality datasets for water managers. By introducing these services into the worldwide market, an increase in annual turnover of €3.000.000 by 2020 is expected.
Coordinator: Water Insight BVPartners: UT Tartu Observatory, Blueleg Monitor BV, Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche, Klaipedos Universitetas, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Stichting Deltares, Suomen Ymparistokeskus, The University Of Stirling, Water Insight BV
Start date: 1.12.2016End date: 31.11.2019
Total amount: 2 219 318 €TO total amount: 197 038 €
Project webpageEstonian Research Information System webpage
MULTIscale SENTINEL land surface information retrieval PLatform
With the start of the SENTINEL era, an unprecedented amount of Earth Observation (EO) data will become available. Currently there is no consistent but extendible and adaptable framework to integrate observations from different sensors in order to obtain the best possible estimate of the land surface state. MULTIPY proposes a solution to this challenge. The project will develop an efficient and fully traceable platform that uses state-of-the-art physical radiative transfer models, within advanced data assimilation (DA) concepts, to consistently acquire, interpret and produce a continuous stream of high spatial and temporal resolution estimates of land surface parameters, fully characterized. These inferences on the state of the land surface will be the result from the coherent joint interpretation of the observations from the different Sentinels, as well as other 3rd party missions (e.g. ProbaV, Landsat, MODIS). The framework allows users to exchange components as plug-ins according to their needs. The proposal is based on the EO-LDAS concepts developed within several ESA-funded projects, which have shown the feasibility of producing estimates of the land surface parameters by combining different sets of observations through the use of radiative transfer models. We will provide a fully generic flexible data retrieval platform for Copernicus services that provides integrated and consistent data products in an easily accessible virtual machine with advanced visualisation tools. Users will be engaged throughout the process and trained. Moreover, user demonstrator projects include applications to crop monitoring & modelling, forestry, biodiversity and nature management. Another user demonstrator project involves providing satellite operators with an opportunity to cross-calibrate their data to the sciencegrade Sentinel standards.
Coordinator: Universiteit LeidenPartners: UT Tartu Observatory, Universiteit Leiden, University College London, Universite De Versailles Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines, Universidad De Alcala, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, Brockmann Consult Gmbh, Assimila Ltd, Adas Uk Limited
Start date: 1.1.2016End date: 31.12.2019
Total amount: 2 994 055 €TO total amount: 81 500 €
Radiometry for Ocean Colour Satellites Calibration & Community Engagement
The Copernicus/Sentinels programme places Europe in a world leading position for the delivery of long-term, high-quality, global satellite Ocean Colour Radiometry (OCR) observations. For European institutions involved in delivering Copernicus, both in research and operational fields, data quality is of paramount importance for the success of this program. In particular, the Sentinel-3 satellite series provides Ocean Colour Radiometry (OCR) data to the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service, CMEMS. The corresponding user products derive from data processing of marine water leaving radiance and reflectance. This is why Ocean Colour “System Vicarious Calibration” (OC-SVC), which allows uncertainties of these variables to stay within required specifications, is of upmost importance. EUMETSAT, a Copernicus operator in charge of the S3/OLCI marine ground segment, envisions having an SVC infrastructure deployed and operated, which meets high technical and operational expectations to reach the expected data quality level. EUMETSAT has defined several steps to reach this objective.
Step 1 was a study aiming at specifying the requirements for such an OC-SVC infrastructure, and completed in 2017. The outputs of this Step 1 form the basis of the present 1-year study called “Step 2”, which should consist in:
Proposing a preliminary design for an OC-SVC infrastructure meeting the Step 1 requirements, including:
Start date: 1.12.2018End date: 31.12.2019
TO total amount: 18 290 €
Partners: UT Tartu Observatory, Sorbonne Universite
Estonian Research Information System webpage
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