Services Supporting the European Environment Agency's Cross-cutting Coordination of the Copernicus Programme's in situ Data Activities — Geospatial Data

Description

The overarching purpose of this open call for tenders is to assist the EEA’s cross-cutting coordination of Copernicus in situ data activities. The EEA is requesting the services of one contractor within the domain of geospatial data comprising the relevant thematic themes as defined in the INSPIRE directive: Annex I, Annex II and Annex III. The services to be delivered by the contractor encompass primarily thematic and technical support, and information gathering, recording and analysis in relation to the specific thematic domains. The contractor will work across the Copernicus programme and will specifically need to cover and consult the following services and entrusted entities: • The Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (CLMS, except biophysical products) implemented jointly by the EEA and JRC; • The Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS, except the Early Warning Component) implemented by the JRC; • The Copernicus Security Service (CSS) implemented by EMSA, FRONTEX and SatCen. The entities rely on geospatial data collected by data providers external to Copernicus. Geospatial data are used to validate and supplement the information provided by satellites and are essential in order to deliver reliable and consistent products and data over time. In general Copernicus in situ data activities include, but is not limited, to the following: • provision of in situ data to the entities including third party in situ data at international level, based on existing capacities; • coordination and harmonisation of the collection and provision of in situ data; • technical assistance to the European Commission as regards requirements for in situ observation data; • cooperation with in situ operators to promote the consistency of development activities related to the in situ observation infrastructure and networks; • identification of in situ observations’ gaps that cannot be filled by existing infrastructures and networks including at global level, and addressing those gaps while respecting the principle of subsidiarity. The Copernicus in situ data activities are carried out using a two tier model: the first tier is composed of the entities, which are responsible for the day to day operational work, data management, and ingestion of observational data in accordance with their specific requirements. A second tier focuses on making in situ data accessible through appropriate arrangements at programme level, facilitate coordination, data sharing, knowledge and information exchange, and exploiting synergies wherever possible. Cross-cutting coordination of Copernicus in situ data activities, which forms part of the second tier, has been delegated to the EEA and includes the following main tasks: • establish and maintain an overview of the state of play of in situ data for Copernicus services; • operational provision of in situ data including access to reference data for Copernicus services; • managing partnerships with data providers to improve access and use conditions of in situ data for Copernicus services; • support to the European Commission and Copernicus services on in situ data issues. Essentially, it is in order to accomplish these four tasks that the EEA requests expert thematic and technical support.