About

CIS² is an open database designed to record the requirements of the Copernicus services, ESA, and EUMETSAT for in situ data, how far they are met, the origin of each dataset, how each dataset is used, their importance, and the barriers to their seamless use, in order to provide a clear picture of what data is already available and what would be needed to deliver improved and more reliable products and monitoring services.

The information derived from this database helps the main players (EU Commission, EEA, Copernicus governance bodies, Member States, etc.) to prioritise actions to further improve the availability, and sustainability of the necessary data. It also provides a basis for dialogue between these players and the Services about the definition of priorities.

Across Copernicus as a whole, over 300 unique requirements have been identified, that have been linked to nearly 500 datasets and over 600 data providers; these datasets contribute to over 600 products.

The following pages contain the detail contained in the database;

• Copernicus products to which In Situ data contribute
• What data are required for these products, including criteria for ranging from meeting minimum needs upwards
• Which datasets are used in practice, and
• The identity of the data providers.

Requirements for In Situ data can be expected to increase as new Service elements are developed, and the database is kept under regular review.

In situ data include:

Geospatial data, such as topographic maps (natural land surface and man-made features), hydrography, settlements, transport networks and land cover, digital elevation models, and aerial imagery.

Observations are non-satellite measurements of physical parameters. These are either direct measurements of properties like temperature, wind, ozone, air quality, vegetation properties, ocean salinity or ground based remote sensing data like soundings of the atmospheric composition. Observations are provided to Copernicus either as individual datasets or aggregated into gridded 2- or 3- dimensional analysis fields.