An Area Monitoring System Service

Description

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has engaged a service for the provision of an Area Monitoring System.Within the context of the Common Agricultural Policy, Article 70 of Regulation 2021/2116 requires the establishment of an Area Monitoring System (AMS) by 1st January 2023. Article 65 of 2021/2116 defines an area monitoring system as a procedure of regular and systematic observation, tracking and assessment of agricultural activities and practices on agricultural areas by Copernicus Sentinels satellite data or other data of at least equivalent value.The AMS will use Copernicus Sentinel Satellite data or other data of at least equivalent value to assess the monitorable eligibility conditions of the relevant area-based schemes. Lot 1: Within the context of the Common Agricultural Policy, Article 70 of Regulation 2021/2116 requires the establishment of an Area Monitoring System (AMS) by 1st January 2023. Article 65 of 2021/2116 defines an area monitoring system as a procedure of regular and systematic observation, tracking and assessment of agricultural activities and practices on agricultural areas by Copernicus Sentinels satellite data or other data of at least equivalent value. The AMS will use Copernicus Sentinel Satellite data or other data of at least equivalent value to assess the monitorable eligibility conditions of the relevant area-based schemes. To allow the reliable observation, tracking and assessment of agricultural activities and practices, the area monitoring system shall, ensure the detection of: • The presence of ineligible areas, in particular permanent structures; • The presence of ineligible land use; • The change in the category of the agricultural area whether it is arable land, permanent crop or permanent grassland. These observations will be made at the level of agricultural parcel or units of land containing non-agricultural areas and agricultural land considered eligible by the Member State. Where relevant, Member States shall use the information referred to in this paragraph for the purpose of updating the identification system for agricultural parcels. The scope of the AMS system is to exploit the time series of Sentinel data to continuously monitor all the Feature of Interest (FOI) associated with agricultural parcels within the LPIS and the GSAA that relate to CAP area-based schemes. The system will be required to generate information to confirm or reject area-based eligibility compliance with the declared practices. This information will be communicated to scheme applicants in real time, so that they can be amended by the applicant, if required.