Space for Copernicus large data volumes

The SENSYF (Sentinels synergy framework) project goes beyond the state of the art by automating data collection, cataloguing and processing to reduce the time-to-market of EO services. For the first time, scientific and commercial partners will have access to distributed computational and storage resources, dedicated to each Sentinel mission.

Developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), each Sentinel mission consists of two satellites providing data for the operational needs of Copernicus services. Sentinel satellites will generate huge amounts of data that scientists and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) do not have access to and the computing and storage needed to handle them.

The SENSYF framework will enable interested users to deploy their services in a collaborative environment where they can tap the computing and storage power of the cloud. It is essentially an extension of ESA's Grid Processing On Demand (G-POD) environment. However, the new hybrid cloud infrastructure allows EO value added services to be deployed on public and commercial clouds.

During the second year of the SENSYF project, the first version of the new cloud platform was released. In addition, seven different services were proposed for concept validation and a pre-operations phase was initiated. These include tools to provide near-real-time information of water quality through the combined use of Sentinel-2 and -3 data.

Several demonstration activities were carried out to introduce potential service providers to how they could integrate applications on the SENSYF framework. The new Sentinel data products were also presented at international conferences where other projects and individuals showed great interest in having access to infrastructure and tools provided.