NCEO NC NPG
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leicester
Department Name: National Centre for Earth Observation
Abstract
NCEO's NPG activity delivers expert scientific, technical and operational advice on EO-related policies and services to government departments and agencies. NCEO works particularly with the UK Space Agency and Defra, with a growing liaison with BEIS Climate Team. Advice covers scientific and technical insight; appraisal and review, reports; organisation of technical working groups and science surveys; and inputs to statements.
Our expected activities are to provide:
1. Advice by the NCEO Director and senior staff to the UK Space Agency regarding UK Space Policy, including the subscriptions to European Space Agency programmes, Industrial Strategy and spectrum usage.
2. Advice to the Defra group, including Chief Scientific Advisor's Innovation programme regarding the application of space-based Earth Observation to environmental policy and services, including advice on the EU Copernicus programme, the Defra EO Centre of Excellence and the emerging UK Government Earth Observation Service.
3. Ad hoc advice to other government departments and agencies regarding the suitability of EO for particular applications and ways of overcoming particular challenges (e.g. supply of analysis ready data, utility of data cubes), for example to the BEIS Climate Team.
4. Coordination of advice to UK government (Defra, UK Space Agency) and technical expert activities related to the international Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), including high level briefings. The aim is that UK organisations can contribute to and benefit strongly from developments in the international community, a current government priority. Societal and public benefit are important drivers for these global engagements.
Our expected activities are to provide:
1. Advice by the NCEO Director and senior staff to the UK Space Agency regarding UK Space Policy, including the subscriptions to European Space Agency programmes, Industrial Strategy and spectrum usage.
2. Advice to the Defra group, including Chief Scientific Advisor's Innovation programme regarding the application of space-based Earth Observation to environmental policy and services, including advice on the EU Copernicus programme, the Defra EO Centre of Excellence and the emerging UK Government Earth Observation Service.
3. Ad hoc advice to other government departments and agencies regarding the suitability of EO for particular applications and ways of overcoming particular challenges (e.g. supply of analysis ready data, utility of data cubes), for example to the BEIS Climate Team.
4. Coordination of advice to UK government (Defra, UK Space Agency) and technical expert activities related to the international Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), including high level briefings. The aim is that UK organisations can contribute to and benefit strongly from developments in the international community, a current government priority. Societal and public benefit are important drivers for these global engagements.
Planned Impact
Ultimately our advice helps government make decisions regarding next generation systems, products and services. Policy formulation, decision and implementation can all have wide ranging impacts on the space and environmental sectors, whether industrial or scientific. For example, support of UK industry, national programmes or decisions on usage of frequency spectrum could change the profile of industrial capability in whole technologies worth hundreds of millions of pounds and more.
International investment decisions can also be considerable. For example, the NCEO Director contributed to the business case which enabled the UK to commit 288.8 million EUR to Earth Observation programmes at the 2016 European Space Agency (ESA) Ministerial, securing UK leadership of environmental satellites, applications and climate services within ESA; Minister of State for Universities and Science Jo Johnson noted that it was the first time the UK had been the highest subscriber to this programme.
Climate data is one particular focus. The Innovation and Growth Strategy identified climate services using space as a UK strength and focus for growth. NCEO supports the Space4Climate group which links NERC community, government and industry. Through NCEO-organised activities, it enabled the community to articulate the needs for climate data from space both by the environmental sciences and by industry for services. The government invested in the ESA Climate Change Initiative (23 million EUR) as a result and also supports a Climate Data from Space zone on JASMIN. This has led to further actions beyond the technical. The BEIS Climate team are part of the the Germany-Norway-UK (GNU) partnership which announced at COP21 (Paris) that the three countries would aim to spend one billion dollars per year by 2020 on REDD+ unlocking the potential of forests and land use. NCEO is providing advice on technical aspects of EO data from satellites and internationally approved methodologies.
Hence the impact of NCEO's advice to government can be considerable through investment of a small resource.
The UK cannot meet its significant aspirations in Earth Observation in isolation. There is a need to contribute to, partner with and learn from the international community in Earth Observation. The Group on Earth Observations GEO) and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) provide excellent opportunities for showcasing UK achievements and for negotiation of mutual activities (co-benefits) with government representatives, space agencies and user organisations across the world. The focus of CEOS is on satellite missions and public good activities related to supply of EO data. GEO is hugely concerned with societal benefit and public good arising across the world, fitting also with NCEO's NPG-ODA activities already funded; sustainable development goals are an important current challenge. Within this portfolio, NCEO meets the needs for government to have access to the best NERC scientists who can work effectively with government, space agencies, their scientific counterparts in other countries and the users of publically accessible data. In this project, our aim is to ensure that these scientists and government are mutually supportive and prominent in GEO and CEOS activities.
International investment decisions can also be considerable. For example, the NCEO Director contributed to the business case which enabled the UK to commit 288.8 million EUR to Earth Observation programmes at the 2016 European Space Agency (ESA) Ministerial, securing UK leadership of environmental satellites, applications and climate services within ESA; Minister of State for Universities and Science Jo Johnson noted that it was the first time the UK had been the highest subscriber to this programme.
Climate data is one particular focus. The Innovation and Growth Strategy identified climate services using space as a UK strength and focus for growth. NCEO supports the Space4Climate group which links NERC community, government and industry. Through NCEO-organised activities, it enabled the community to articulate the needs for climate data from space both by the environmental sciences and by industry for services. The government invested in the ESA Climate Change Initiative (23 million EUR) as a result and also supports a Climate Data from Space zone on JASMIN. This has led to further actions beyond the technical. The BEIS Climate team are part of the the Germany-Norway-UK (GNU) partnership which announced at COP21 (Paris) that the three countries would aim to spend one billion dollars per year by 2020 on REDD+ unlocking the potential of forests and land use. NCEO is providing advice on technical aspects of EO data from satellites and internationally approved methodologies.
Hence the impact of NCEO's advice to government can be considerable through investment of a small resource.
The UK cannot meet its significant aspirations in Earth Observation in isolation. There is a need to contribute to, partner with and learn from the international community in Earth Observation. The Group on Earth Observations GEO) and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) provide excellent opportunities for showcasing UK achievements and for negotiation of mutual activities (co-benefits) with government representatives, space agencies and user organisations across the world. The focus of CEOS is on satellite missions and public good activities related to supply of EO data. GEO is hugely concerned with societal benefit and public good arising across the world, fitting also with NCEO's NPG-ODA activities already funded; sustainable development goals are an important current challenge. Within this portfolio, NCEO meets the needs for government to have access to the best NERC scientists who can work effectively with government, space agencies, their scientific counterparts in other countries and the users of publically accessible data. In this project, our aim is to ensure that these scientists and government are mutually supportive and prominent in GEO and CEOS activities.
Organisations
- University of Leicester (Lead Research Organisation)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (Collaboration)
- Satellite Applications Catapult (Collaboration)
- National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) (Collaboration)
- German Aerospace Centre (DLR) (Collaboration)
- National Physical Laboratory (Collaboration)
- Joint Nature Conservation Committee (Collaboration)
- National Institute for Space Research Brazil (Collaboration)
- CSIRO Scientific Computing (Collaboration)
- Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA) (Collaboration)
- Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (Collaboration)
- The Open University (Collaboration)
- UK Space Agency (Collaboration)
- Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (Collaboration)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Collaboration)
- United States Geological Survey (Collaboration)
- Italian Space Agency (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana) (Collaboration)
- European Space Agency (Collaboration)
- Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Project Partner)
- United Kingdom Space Agency (Project Partner)
People |
ORCID iD |
| John Remedios (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Dokoohaki H
(2022)
Linking Remote Sensing with APSIM through Emulation and Bayesian Optimization to Improve Yield Prediction
in Remote Sensing
| Description | 1) Advanced Defra and UK Space Agency Objectives in effective international engagement for the UK through international bodies: Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS). NCEO provides scientific support to UK Policy Leads (Customers: Defra and UK Space Agency) in international EO bodies: GEO and CEOS. The NCEO NPG contribution enables a co-ordinating UK GEO/CEOS Office covering policy advice, co-ordination of UK representatives and (small) strategic projects. Defra and UK Space Agency co-invest. Impacts include UK Ministerial Statements and delegations to GEO; policy positions for CEOS; demos leading to new UK services; COP26 and Paris Agreement pathways. 2) Supporting UK Earth Observation investment decisions in European Space Agency (ESA) and EU Copernicus Programmes Summary: The UK government invests large sums in EO programmes through ESA, EUMETSAT and Copernicus. NCEO provides scientific, technical and strategic advice to UK Policy Leads (Customers: UK Space Agency and Defra) to build cases for strategic investment and to make decisions within programmes. The NCEO NPG contribution enables it to play a full role in advisory structures and to survey and represent the UK science community. Impacts include: successful support to the UK Space Agency for ESA Ministerial 2019 resulting in investment of 250 million euros; support to decisions on satellites for commissioning (particularly TRUTHS but also CO2M, LSTM, HydroGNSS) bringing major societal benefits; support to Defra/UK Space Agency on value of EC Copernicus programme with end result of Copernicus inclusion in UK and EC Trade and Cooperation Agreement of Dec. 2020 (as for Horizon Europe). |
| Exploitation Route | https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/is-the-uk-still-participating-in-eu-programmes/ https://www.gov.uk/guidance/uk-involvement-in-the-eu-space-programme Findings used by the entire UK Earth Observation community and by those who use European EO data |
| Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Environment |
| URL | https://www.nceo.ac.uk/innovation/nceo-geo |
| Description | FIndings have been used to understand the value of Earth Observation within government, to support government department policy with respect to climate and REDD+, to support international Earth Observation activities by the world's major space agencies. Particular highlights have been the support of 25+ representatives for the UK in international organisations; internationally co-ordination in forest carbon (technically, above-ground biomass) particularly in presenting internationally recognised datasets for the global stocktake of the Paris Agreement; methane standards. We have provided advice to government on Copernicus which has led to it being a European programme to which the UK has now re-associated. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
| Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Environment |
| Impact Types | Policy & public services |
| Description | Global Forests Observation Initiative leads group for policy-relevance of EO for REDD+ |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
| Description | Ministerial Statement for the Group on Earth Observations Plenary 2018 |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| Description | Space Growth Partnership |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
| URL | https://www.ukspace.org/space-organisations/space-growth-partnership/ |
| Description | UK Statement for Group on Earth Observations 2022 |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| Description | UK Statement for Group on Earth Observations 2023 |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| Description | UK Statement for the Group on Earth Observations 2020 |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| URL | https://earthobservations.org/geoweek2020_statements.php |
| Description | UK Statement for the Group on Earth Observations 2021 |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| URL | https://earthobservations.org/geoweek2021.php?t=statements |
| Description | DEFRA UK GEO/CEOS Office |
| Amount | £44,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2018 |
| End | 03/2019 |
| Description | DEFRA UK GEO/CEOS Office - Review of value of Group on Earth Observations to HMG |
| Amount | £21,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2019 |
| End | 04/2019 |
| Description | Heat Data for cities: a pilot project with Ordnance Survey in support of UK climate change actions |
| Amount | £20,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | UK Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2022 |
| End | 03/2022 |
| Description | Market Research Programme for Space4Climate |
| Amount | £420,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | UK Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2022 |
| End | 03/2025 |
| Description | Market Research Programme for Space4Climate |
| Amount | £30,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2022 |
| End | 03/2025 |
| Description | UK GEO/CEOS Office |
| Amount | £135,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | UK Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2022 |
| End | 03/2025 |
| Description | UK GEO/CEOS Office |
| Amount | £90,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2019 |
| End | 03/2022 |
| Description | UK GEO/CEOS Office |
| Amount | £165,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | UK Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2019 |
| End | 03/2022 |
| Description | UK GEO/CEOS Office |
| Amount | £105,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2022 |
| End | 03/2025 |
| Description | UK Space Agency ARD Demonstration Projects |
| Amount | £40,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | UK Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2019 |
| End | 04/2019 |
| Description | UK Space Agency GEO CEOS Office |
| Amount | £50,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | UK Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2018 |
| End | 03/2019 |
| Title | Specifications for Analysis-ready data |
| Description | NCEO scientists worked on analysis-ready data specifications and advised these to the international grouping looking at CARD4L specifications |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | International demonstrations of analysis-ready data are helping the non-expert community to use Earth Observation data more easily |
| Description | CEOS Working Group on Information Systems and Services |
| Organisation | CSIRO Scientific Computing |
| Country | Australia |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | UK representative to CEOS WGISS, Lead of the Jupyter Notebooks Topic (including Workshops and Webinars), Contributions to AI , Data Access, Data Stewardship Standards and Best Practice documents |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributions to Jupyter Notebooks Topic Area. Leadership of and contributions to AI , Data Access, Data Stewardship Standards and Best Practice documents |
| Impact | Workshops, Webinars, Standards and Best Practice Documents |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | CEOS Working Group on Information Systems and Services |
| Organisation | European Space Agency |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | UK representative to CEOS WGISS, Lead of the Jupyter Notebooks Topic (including Workshops and Webinars), Contributions to AI , Data Access, Data Stewardship Standards and Best Practice documents |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributions to Jupyter Notebooks Topic Area. Leadership of and contributions to AI , Data Access, Data Stewardship Standards and Best Practice documents |
| Impact | Workshops, Webinars, Standards and Best Practice Documents |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | CEOS Working Group on Information Systems and Services |
| Organisation | German Aerospace Centre (DLR) |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | UK representative to CEOS WGISS, Lead of the Jupyter Notebooks Topic (including Workshops and Webinars), Contributions to AI , Data Access, Data Stewardship Standards and Best Practice documents |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributions to Jupyter Notebooks Topic Area. Leadership of and contributions to AI , Data Access, Data Stewardship Standards and Best Practice documents |
| Impact | Workshops, Webinars, Standards and Best Practice Documents |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | CEOS Working Group on Information Systems and Services |
| Organisation | Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency |
| Country | Japan |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | UK representative to CEOS WGISS, Lead of the Jupyter Notebooks Topic (including Workshops and Webinars), Contributions to AI , Data Access, Data Stewardship Standards and Best Practice documents |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributions to Jupyter Notebooks Topic Area. Leadership of and contributions to AI , Data Access, Data Stewardship Standards and Best Practice documents |
| Impact | Workshops, Webinars, Standards and Best Practice Documents |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | CEOS Working Group on Information Systems and Services |
| Organisation | National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | UK representative to CEOS WGISS, Lead of the Jupyter Notebooks Topic (including Workshops and Webinars), Contributions to AI , Data Access, Data Stewardship Standards and Best Practice documents |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributions to Jupyter Notebooks Topic Area. Leadership of and contributions to AI , Data Access, Data Stewardship Standards and Best Practice documents |
| Impact | Workshops, Webinars, Standards and Best Practice Documents |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | CEOS Working Group on Information Systems and Services |
| Organisation | National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | UK representative to CEOS WGISS, Lead of the Jupyter Notebooks Topic (including Workshops and Webinars), Contributions to AI , Data Access, Data Stewardship Standards and Best Practice documents |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributions to Jupyter Notebooks Topic Area. Leadership of and contributions to AI , Data Access, Data Stewardship Standards and Best Practice documents |
| Impact | Workshops, Webinars, Standards and Best Practice Documents |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | CEOS Working Group on Information Systems and Services |
| Organisation | National Institute for Space Research Brazil |
| Country | Brazil |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | UK representative to CEOS WGISS, Lead of the Jupyter Notebooks Topic (including Workshops and Webinars), Contributions to AI , Data Access, Data Stewardship Standards and Best Practice documents |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributions to Jupyter Notebooks Topic Area. Leadership of and contributions to AI , Data Access, Data Stewardship Standards and Best Practice documents |
| Impact | Workshops, Webinars, Standards and Best Practice Documents |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | CEOS Working Group on Information Systems and Services |
| Organisation | National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | UK representative to CEOS WGISS, Lead of the Jupyter Notebooks Topic (including Workshops and Webinars), Contributions to AI , Data Access, Data Stewardship Standards and Best Practice documents |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributions to Jupyter Notebooks Topic Area. Leadership of and contributions to AI , Data Access, Data Stewardship Standards and Best Practice documents |
| Impact | Workshops, Webinars, Standards and Best Practice Documents |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | CEOS Working Group on Information Systems and Services |
| Organisation | US Geological Survey |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | UK representative to CEOS WGISS, Lead of the Jupyter Notebooks Topic (including Workshops and Webinars), Contributions to AI , Data Access, Data Stewardship Standards and Best Practice documents |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributions to Jupyter Notebooks Topic Area. Leadership of and contributions to AI , Data Access, Data Stewardship Standards and Best Practice documents |
| Impact | Workshops, Webinars, Standards and Best Practice Documents |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Committee on Earth Observation Satellites specifications: Analysis Ready Data for Land |
| Organisation | Joint Nature Conservation Committee |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The UK GEO/CEOS Office at NCEO helped coordinate UK expert inputs to work by the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), developing a set of specifications to ensure that satellite data are processed to a minimum set of requirements and organized into a form that allows immediate analysis with a minimum of additional user effort and interoperability both through time and with other datasets. NCEO-University of Leicester and NCEO-University of Sheffield also provided detailed comments and additions to the specifications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Satellite Applications Catapult support the time for the UK delegate to the CEOS group that is coordinating this activity, liaising closely with the UK GEO/CEOS Office. JNCC provided detailed inputs to the specifications, alongside contributions from others across the UK EO community. |
| Impact | Further funding to demonstrate the usefulness of the specifications under development has been provided by UK Space Agency, administered under an open call and managed by the UK GEO/CEOS Office at NCEO. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Committee on Earth Observation Satellites specifications: Analysis Ready Data for Land |
| Organisation | Satellite Applications Catapult |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The UK GEO/CEOS Office at NCEO helped coordinate UK expert inputs to work by the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), developing a set of specifications to ensure that satellite data are processed to a minimum set of requirements and organized into a form that allows immediate analysis with a minimum of additional user effort and interoperability both through time and with other datasets. NCEO-University of Leicester and NCEO-University of Sheffield also provided detailed comments and additions to the specifications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Satellite Applications Catapult support the time for the UK delegate to the CEOS group that is coordinating this activity, liaising closely with the UK GEO/CEOS Office. JNCC provided detailed inputs to the specifications, alongside contributions from others across the UK EO community. |
| Impact | Further funding to demonstrate the usefulness of the specifications under development has been provided by UK Space Agency, administered under an open call and managed by the UK GEO/CEOS Office at NCEO. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | ESA Data Access and Preservation Working Group |
| Organisation | European Space Agency |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Technical Advice and contributions to the development of ESA data stewardship standards |
| Collaborator Contribution | Technical Advice and contributions to the development of ESA data stewardship standards |
| Impact | Mutiple documents which have published via CEOS |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | ESA Data Access and Preservation Working Group |
| Organisation | German Aerospace Centre (DLR) |
| Department | DLR Munich |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Technical Advice and contributions to the development of ESA data stewardship standards |
| Collaborator Contribution | Technical Advice and contributions to the development of ESA data stewardship standards |
| Impact | Mutiple documents which have published via CEOS |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | ESA Data Access and Preservation Working Group |
| Organisation | Italian Space Agency (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana) |
| Country | Italy |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Technical Advice and contributions to the development of ESA data stewardship standards |
| Collaborator Contribution | Technical Advice and contributions to the development of ESA data stewardship standards |
| Impact | Mutiple documents which have published via CEOS |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | ESA Data Access and Preservation Working Group |
| Organisation | National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Technical Advice and contributions to the development of ESA data stewardship standards |
| Collaborator Contribution | Technical Advice and contributions to the development of ESA data stewardship standards |
| Impact | Mutiple documents which have published via CEOS |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) Leads and Data group |
| Organisation | Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The UK GEO/CEOS Office at NCEO supports join-up on UK inputs and information-sharing relating to GFOI, including workshops and meetings. GFOI aims to coordinate international support for developing countries on forest monitoring and greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting for REDD+ and related activities. NCEO scientists support the research for methods for forest monitoring. |
| Collaborator Contribution | In 2018 BEIS joined the GFOI leads group to coordinate understanding and use of methods to demonstrate the carbon impact of its climate investments in developing countries (consistent with REDD+ reporting and verification). Information on GFOI from the BEIS lead is shared with the UK GEO/CEOS Office and beyond to the UK EO community. NPL co-supports the UK vice-chair to the Committee on Earth Observation Space Data Coordination Group for GFOI. |
| Impact | The continued agreement to support the UK vice chair to CEOS Space Data Coordination Group for GFOI. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) Leads and Data group |
| Organisation | National Physical Laboratory |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The UK GEO/CEOS Office at NCEO supports join-up on UK inputs and information-sharing relating to GFOI, including workshops and meetings. GFOI aims to coordinate international support for developing countries on forest monitoring and greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting for REDD+ and related activities. NCEO scientists support the research for methods for forest monitoring. |
| Collaborator Contribution | In 2018 BEIS joined the GFOI leads group to coordinate understanding and use of methods to demonstrate the carbon impact of its climate investments in developing countries (consistent with REDD+ reporting and verification). Information on GFOI from the BEIS lead is shared with the UK GEO/CEOS Office and beyond to the UK EO community. NPL co-supports the UK vice-chair to the Committee on Earth Observation Space Data Coordination Group for GFOI. |
| Impact | The continued agreement to support the UK vice chair to CEOS Space Data Coordination Group for GFOI. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) Leads and Data group |
| Organisation | UK Space Agency |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The UK GEO/CEOS Office at NCEO supports join-up on UK inputs and information-sharing relating to GFOI, including workshops and meetings. GFOI aims to coordinate international support for developing countries on forest monitoring and greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting for REDD+ and related activities. NCEO scientists support the research for methods for forest monitoring. |
| Collaborator Contribution | In 2018 BEIS joined the GFOI leads group to coordinate understanding and use of methods to demonstrate the carbon impact of its climate investments in developing countries (consistent with REDD+ reporting and verification). Information on GFOI from the BEIS lead is shared with the UK GEO/CEOS Office and beyond to the UK EO community. NPL co-supports the UK vice-chair to the Committee on Earth Observation Space Data Coordination Group for GFOI. |
| Impact | The continued agreement to support the UK vice chair to CEOS Space Data Coordination Group for GFOI. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | SPAN Earth Observation Working Group (SEOWG) |
| Organisation | Open University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The UK GEO/CEOS Office at NCEO facilitated setting up of a working group to provide a voice for space-related research in the UK, representing the academic community working in Earth Observation, SEOWG. John Remedios acted as Chair of the group and board member of SPAN. Liaising closely with UK Space Agency and UKRI-NERC, the key functions of the group are to provide a focus on EO research as part of the space sector and directed towards the UK Space Agency, Space Growth Partnership and National Space Council; to share views and activities in UK EO research and innovation in co-ordination with UKRI and focussing particularly on NERC, EO-relevant Research Centres and facilities. |
| Collaborator Contribution | SPAN is a Space Academic Network uniting UK universities space research groups and providing a single body to represent the academic community working in research either of or from space. SPAN operates a Board and Working Group structure. The Board meets three times per annum with representatives of the UK Space Agency, Research Councils and UKSpace in attendance. |
| Impact | The continued platform to share information and views between the academic community and UKSA and UKRI. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | UK joint office for the Group on Earth Observation and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (UK GEO/CEOS Office) |
| Organisation | Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The Office is jointly funded between NERC (through NCEO), DSIT and the UK Space Agency. It provides support to the UK government policy responsible officials, enables technical research work on Earth system challenges which can addressed through Earth Observations and allows the development of international projects. Good examples are the NCEO work in forestry methods using satellite data (Global Forests Observation Initiative), wildfire data across the world (Global Wildfire Information System) and high quality sea surface temperature datasets in operational systems (Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature). Our work on greenhouse gases is an important contribution to international activities building new systems in support of the Paris agreement and its need to stocktake on carbon dioxide concentrations and related climate impacts. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Defra has led on policy inputs into the international co-ordination of GEO, with creation of a country profile for UK Earth Observation relevant to GEO and with reviews of government connections to GEO. UK Space Agency has provided policy inputs into the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) and has provided support for internationally-agreed methods for calibration of satellite data systems, for co-ordinated climate observations including the international greenhouse gas constellation, Space Climate Observatory and analysis-ready data for non-expert EO users. Since 2023, DSIT took over Defra as GEO policy lead and provides a focal point for GEO in the UK. |
| Impact | 1. Defra have started an Earth Observation Data Service to produce analysis-ready data guided by international experience and UK expertise. 2. NCEO staff Boesch and Palmer contributed to the international white paper on greenhouse gas measurements. 3. Global Forests Observation Initiative released Methods Guidance Document 2 which is now used by the World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) for training of government staff responsible for national monitoring and reporting of carbon contributions. 4. NCEO staff Matt Disney contributed to the creation of a good practices protocol for validation of aboveground biomass products, including the development of a network of biomass reference measurement sites. The protocol is expected to be useful for both biomass product producers and users in a range of communities. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | UK joint office for the Group on Earth Observation and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (UK GEO/CEOS Office) |
| Organisation | UK Space Agency |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The Office is jointly funded between NERC (through NCEO), DSIT and the UK Space Agency. It provides support to the UK government policy responsible officials, enables technical research work on Earth system challenges which can addressed through Earth Observations and allows the development of international projects. Good examples are the NCEO work in forestry methods using satellite data (Global Forests Observation Initiative), wildfire data across the world (Global Wildfire Information System) and high quality sea surface temperature datasets in operational systems (Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature). Our work on greenhouse gases is an important contribution to international activities building new systems in support of the Paris agreement and its need to stocktake on carbon dioxide concentrations and related climate impacts. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Defra has led on policy inputs into the international co-ordination of GEO, with creation of a country profile for UK Earth Observation relevant to GEO and with reviews of government connections to GEO. UK Space Agency has provided policy inputs into the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) and has provided support for internationally-agreed methods for calibration of satellite data systems, for co-ordinated climate observations including the international greenhouse gas constellation, Space Climate Observatory and analysis-ready data for non-expert EO users. Since 2023, DSIT took over Defra as GEO policy lead and provides a focal point for GEO in the UK. |
| Impact | 1. Defra have started an Earth Observation Data Service to produce analysis-ready data guided by international experience and UK expertise. 2. NCEO staff Boesch and Palmer contributed to the international white paper on greenhouse gas measurements. 3. Global Forests Observation Initiative released Methods Guidance Document 2 which is now used by the World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) for training of government staff responsible for national monitoring and reporting of carbon contributions. 4. NCEO staff Matt Disney contributed to the creation of a good practices protocol for validation of aboveground biomass products, including the development of a network of biomass reference measurement sites. The protocol is expected to be useful for both biomass product producers and users in a range of communities. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Earth Information for Climate Action: Perspectives from the UK Presidency |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Organised and participated in UK Presidency-led Earth information half day, which offered the UK an opportunity to illustrate to a global audience how earth observation science can be used to tackle climate change and enable climate action through adaptation, mitigation, and international collaboration. The event took place on 3rd November 2021 in the Blue Zone of COP26, Pen Y Pan Plenary Room of the Scottish Event Campus, Glasgow. Chaired by Professor Gideon Henderson, Chief Scientific Advisor DEFRA and moderated by Professor Paul Monks, Chief Scientific Advisor, BEIS, the event and panel discussion focused on how EO can be used as an invaluable tool for climate action, to improve reporting and monitoring of Green House Gas emissions, support decision making and deliver solutions The event was livestreamed and is available on demand https://unfccc-cop26.streamworld.de/webcast/presidency-event-earth-information-day As part of the event, UK Space Agency signed a new agreement (implementation arrangement) with CNES to continue work on the joint British and French MicroCarb mission dedicated to monitoring atmospheric carbon dioxide - the main greenhouse gas responsible for climate change. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://nceocop26.le.ac.uk/nceo-engagement-at-cop26/ |
| Description | Exhibition stand at COP26 (Green Zone) to showcase the best of UK EO work for climate. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A two week long exhibition space at COP26 Green Zone, led by Space4Climate to showcase the work done by the UK Earth Observation community. With participation of NCEO staff, other academics, representatives of industry and government agencies. British ESA astronaut Tim Peake joined climate experts at the Space4Climate stand for a live questions and answers session. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://space4climate.com/cop26/ |
| Description | Organised UK representatives Coordination meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 25 researchers and government representatives attended the Coordination event on 22 March 2022, which helped to align the UK priorities of policy leads, Defra and UKSA, with the activities of UK representatives to Group on Earth Observation and Committee for Earth Observation Satellites working groups and initiatives. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Organised the UK GEO/CEOS Coordination meeting 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Over 50 researchers and government representatives took part in the Coordination meeting on 9 March 2023 to report on the highlights of the work of UK representatives to GEO/CEOS working groups and activities and discuss how can government and the research community engage and coordinate better the activities in international networks. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Panel event in the Green Zone at COP26 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Over 115 people attended the event in person at Glasgow Science Theatre on 6 November 2021, and over 1900 have viewed the event recording on COP26 YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDpV-SJnuxE&t=760s . The panel event "Monitoring the lungs of the world from space: trustable systems for detecting and verifying the carbon content and removal ecosystem services of trees and forests" brought together national delegations, international entities, space agencies and scientific experts on stage, with the aim of discussing how to use forests and trees as key nature-based solution, to showcase examples of greenhouse gas removal through forests/trees, and to share commitments to urgent action including observations of forest/tree change around the world. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://nceocop26.le.ac.uk/nceo-engagement-at-cop26/ |
| Description | Presentation of the GEO/CEOS Office to the GEO Plenary |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented the UK GEO (Group on Earth Observations)/CEOS (Committee on Earth Observation Satellites) Office, which brings together Defra, UK Space Agency (UKSA) and NCEO, allowing us to streamline the engagement of the UK Earth Observation community across both GEO and CEOS. Shared experience with other national GEO offices at the GEO Plenary in Ghana. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Sentinel1 and Sentinel2 Data Cube Webinar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A workshop was organised to present a JNCC Data Cube project to a wide audience of earth observation specialists from academia and industry, with hands on demonstrations, which sparked a discussion on the use of data cubes and further research needed to advance similar projects using satellite data. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Talk to RAeS Derby branch: Global Space Power, the world from high above us |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Invited talk as part of a regular series of professional speaker events |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |