Water-ForCE, a roadmap on future Copernicus water-related services and missions

A group of specialists in remote sensing applications in the water sector and in the fields of research, engineering and political decision making define the necessary services and future missions related to water of Copernicus, the observation program of the land of the European Union and the European Space Agency. This is the main axis of the European Water-ForCE research project. At CREAF, the main researcher involved is Lluís Pesquer, as well as the researchers Ester Prat, Cristina Domingo and Joan Masó, all of them also members of the GRUMETS research group.

Water-ForCE analyses Copernicus services (land, atmosphere, marine environment, climate change, security and emergencies) and integrates the contribution of the Copernicus Academy and Copernicus Relay networks, the European Space Agency and international institutions, as well as organizations public and private research.

By working with these communities Water-ForCE will deliver:

• A roadmap for the water component of future Copernicus services defining which is the most optimal way forward taking into account that at present water products are split between several Copernicus Services.
• Technical requirements for future Copernicus missions to fulfil better inland and coastal water related needs (e.g. optical configuration of Sentinel-2E and onward, CHIME hyperspectral sensor and onward).
• An enlarged service portfolio containing high level biogeochemical products, and improved performance of the current products.
• Closer cooperation between remote sensing, in situ and modelling communities in order to build an optimal network that provides necessary information about inland and coastal waters to policy makers, managers, researchers and general public.