Horizon Europe GreenEO Project: Satellite services to support sustainable land-use practices within the framework of the European Green Deal

The main objective of GreenEO is to provide enhanced satellite-based environmental information to support sustainable nature protection practices in four competing land-use areas: cities, agricultural areas, forests, and ecosystems. Through the combined exploitation of novel Earth Observation products, digital infrastructure, and atmospheric and land surface models using machine learning and data assimilation, GreenEO will provide environmental information and stakeholder engagement practices to support the implementation of the Zero Pollution (ZP) and Biodiversity aspects of the European Green Deal (EGD).

The project will serve as a proof of concept to enhance the targeted services provided by Copernicus and EUMETSAT in support of the implementation of the EGD. GreenEO seeks to support the transition to more sustainable land-use practices in Europe and proposes a transformative governance system, based on an enhanced data value chain with active stakeholder engagement and co-creation. The value chain proposes the adoption of satellite data, integrated into a model development chain and followed by value-creating modeling applications. In cities, GreenEO will develop three satellite-based approaches to high-resolution city-scale air quality mapping to engage relevant stakeholders in supporting ZP strategies.

In the agricultural sector, GreenEO will address impacts on nitrogen emissions, deposition, and biodiversity. It will create high-resolution satellite emissions inventories, deposition, and critical load exceedance maps, and identify areas with high recovery potential. GreenEO will develop a wildfire service that will revolutionize wildfire monitoring in Europe. GreenEO will create novel ecosystem monitoring indicators, such as urban greening indicators, ecosystem area, and status indicators. GreenEO will advance comprehensive climate, weather, and environment services in Europe through proactive links with EUMETSAT, WMO, Copernicus services, the EEA, and EU missions.