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Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES)

The 10 years of GMES

14 May 2008

As part of the conference, a prominent side event on GMES is planned to celebrate the 10 years of this initiative due to GMES’ relevance for providing the relevant information to enable a better evaluation of the state of the environment.

GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) is a European initiative for the implementation of information services dealing with environment and security.

Through GMES the state of our environment and its short, medium and long-term evolution will be monitored to support policy decisions or investments. GMES will mainly support decision-making by both institutional and private actors. Decisions could concern either new regulations to preserve our environment or urgent measures in case of a natural or man–made catastrophes (i.e. floods, forest fires, water pollution).

GMES also represents the European solution responding to the needs of citizens in Europe to access reliable information on the status of their environment and to enjoy improved security.

GMES will be based on observation data received from Earth Observation satellites and ground based information. These data will be coordinated, analysed and prepared for end-users.

GMES will integrate these functions by assembling the information acquired in a reliable, valid and compatible manner and make them available for user friendly exploitation. The services will be used by environmental agencies, local, regional and national authorities, civil protection organisations, etc.

The new observation techniques and analysis of data will permit these actors to better anticipate potential threats, to intervene timely and to increase the efficiency of the intervention.

GMES will be built up gradually: it starts with a pilot phase which targets the availability of a first set of operational GMES services by 2008 followed by the development of an extended range of services which meet user requirements.

Some examples of services are:

- Oil spill/discharge detection & monitoring;

- Land cover/land use for policy making and services to farmers;

- Support to civil protection – rapid mapping;

- Environment and health services – ozone monitoring and UV exposure.

GMES also represents the European participation in the worldwide monitoring and management of our planet Earth and the European contribution to the Group on Earth Observation (GEO). The global community acts together for a synergy of all techniques of observation, detection and analysis.

There is a video 10 Years of GMES, it is availabe on request at the Environmental Agency of Slovenia.

Video clip 10 years of GMES is available to download on the following address:
http://www.bridgingthegap.si/gmes/gmes.rar

A compressed file size is 2.8 GB. To decompress the video file use the software winrar available on the web site http://www.rarlab.com/

You can request a DVD 10 years of GMES also to the Environmental Agency; the address is:
Environmental Agency of the RS
Vojkova 1 b
SI-1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia

This conference is organised by Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia in co-operation with the European Commission (DG ENV, DG RTD, DG JRC), the European Environment Agency, the Environmental Protection Agency of Ireland, the Environment Agency for England and Wales and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

ARSO

EPA SWEPA