Florence, 06/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 4 November, the European Commission signed an agreement with Australia within the framework of the Copernicus Earth observation and monitoring programme. The signing was attended by Philippe Brunet, who is in charge of Copernicus space policy and defence at the European Commission, and Stuart Minchin, of Geoscience Australia, the national geological monitoring authority.
The agreement will facilitate access to data generated by the European space programme. “Every day (Copernicus) will deliver comprehensive snapshots of Australia and the surrounding regions” to gather information on natural resources, the environment and urban areas, “to boost economic activity through the creation of new opportunities”, says the Commission (our translation).
Australia will support access to the information throughout the regions of South-East Asia and the South Pacific by means of a Data Hub, set up by the Australian government in partnership with the governments of the states of New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia.
On 20 October, the EU and the United States signed a similar agreement enhancing transatlantic cooperation between NASA and the ESA. Copernicus also assists China in its efforts to tackle air pollution as part of the Marco Polo programme, which measures emissions from space, and the PANDA programme, which cross-checks satellite data with information from the ground. Both programmes are financed by the EU. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)