AGRICULTURE Regular assessment of crop areas; crop development monitoring at regional and global scales; food security assessment; harvest estimation; support to sustainable agricultural practices (e.g. estimated irrigation needs); Copernicus enables an improved understanding of the Earth as an integrated system. European citizens, ranging from policy makers, researchers, commercial to private users, as well as the global scientifi c community can benefi t in many ways from the information provided by the different Copernicus services;

CIVIL PROTECTION AND HUMANITARIAN AID Through the Emergency Response Coordination Centre: coordinated forecast and response to major disasters and humanitarian crises, accurate geographic information for population rescue, logistics, water supply infrastructures, demography, health facilities and environment for those areas aff ected by natural hazards or man-made disasters ;

CLIMATE CHANGE Solid scientific evidence for the geophysical variables addressing climate change, climate indicators (e.g. temperature increase, sea level rise, ice sheet melting, warming of the oceans), climate indices (e.g. based on records of temperature, precipitation, drought events) ;

DEVELOPMENT AND COOPERATION Applications to monitor agriculture and food security, deforestation and desertification, or biodiversity in developing countries in collaboration with partner countries and international organisations (such as the African Union, United Nations institutions);

ENERGY Support to the selection and management of renewable energy production sites through the provision of information on features including water reservoirs, precipitation and snow stored during winter, monitoring of critical assets like nuclear plants, or protection of vital infrastructure like power plants or pipelines; assessment of the effi cient use of energy for industrial plants and buildings;

ENVIRONMENT Monitoring of atmospheric composition, of snow and ice, and of biodiversity, assessment of water cycle parameters like soil moisture or water bodies, monitoring of forests and coastal zones, regular monitoring of soil and assessment of sealed surfaces, forest damage assessment and desertifi cation monitoring (see pages 18-19); monitoring of the oceans and European seas, of the marine and coastal environment, and of marine water quality; observations like ocean color and sea level;

INSURANCE Applications in support of risk modelling, hazard and damage assessment and claims management;

HEALTH European air quality monitoring and global atmospheric composition, mapping of possible outbreaks of epidemics or diseases, preparedness planning for public health emergencies;

BLUE ECONOMY Monitoring the marine environment to enhance marine knowledge and thus support the sustainable development of the marine economy in various sectors such as off shore oil and gas or coastal and maritime tourism;

TOURISM Monitoring of coastal zones, provision of critical indicators and indices for assessment and planning of seasonal tourism activities, such as snow cover, European bathing waters quality, contribution to the protection of natural and cultural heritage;

TRANSPORT AIR, LAND, WATER Monitoring of shipping routes or oil spill monitoring, control of maritime traffi c for safety and surveillance purposes; aviation safety and support to air traffic when extreme situations occur; geo-hazard and environmental risk assessment in critical areas for land transport

SECURITY Support to external actions of the European Union, including peacekeeping operations, monitoring of European land and maritime borders and maritime surveillance at large, in support of a broad spectrum of communities;

URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING At regional or city level, land use and land use change monitoring, detailed high resolution maps of EU main cities in support of urban planning to assure sustainable and balanced development .