[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/5958\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EEyes in the sky to save lives during disasters\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA dozen new satellites are being launched into low earth orbit as part of the EU\u0027s Copernicus programme\u0026nbsp;with the support of the European Space Agency (ESA) to give the clearest pictures yet of the land, seas and atmosphere.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEarth observation satellites have many uses. They can monitor deforestation, track the retreat of sea ice, help to manage agriculture and city planning, forecast the weather, and map the progress of climate change. However, one of the most innovative applications of Copernicus is mitigating the effects of natural disasters.\u003Cspan style=\u0022line-height: 1.538em;\u0022\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Copernicus Emergency Mapping Service (EMS) started in April 2012 on the basis of pre-operational precursor projects is already providing some maps of natural and man-made disasters in Europe and in the rest of the world such as floods, earthquakes, forest fires and explosions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr Hannes Taubenb\u00f6ck, a geographer at the German Aerospace Center, said everyone from town planners to the general public is reliant on observations of the environment to prepare and respond to natural disasters. \u2018Such information is often missing or not readily accessible,\u2019 Dr Taubenb\u00f6ck said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr Taubenb\u00f6ck is working within the EU-funded SENSUM project to solve that problem with the development of software tools. These tools will continuously translate data from Copernicus into something that is easy to interpret \u2013 so even untrained people can view relevant observations when a natural disaster occurs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs an example, Dr Taubenb\u00f6ck gives extreme rainfall: in such a situation the software would accurately identify which sets of observations from Copernicus\u0026nbsp;show the pattern of flooding and the infrastructure at risk. Then, authorities could quickly direct their emergency resources.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs Copernicus\u2019s observational capacity improves, it is hoped that projects such as SENSUM will grow from being experiments to fully fledged services.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe first Sentinel satellite, which will host radar instruments, was launched by the ESA on 3 April 2014 from Kourou in French Guiana. A dozen more Sentinels will follow in the coming months and years, with the last foreseen Sentinel going into orbit around 2030. The satellites are grouped into six \u2018Sentinel\u2019 groups, and comprise two satellites each.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Copernicus satellites will be complemented by an array of earth-based sensors, managed by the European Environment Agency.\u003Cspan style=\u0022line-height: 1.538em;\u0022\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018I believe it is important for geohazard information to be easily accessible, understood and available to any user.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EClaire Roberts, coordinator, PanGeo\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMapping danger\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOther European projects are trying to mitigate the effects of natural disasters in different ways. IncREO, for example, plans to overlay Copernicus\u2019s data on existing maps so that it is possible to see where the disasters are most likely to occur.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor instance, an IncREO map of Buz\u0103u County in Romania overlaid with radar data could be used by a local authority to draft evacuation plans and prevent construction in \u2018hotspots\u2019 which are prone to landslides.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA similar project called PanGeo seeks to make information gathered by the Copernicus system on geological hazards \u2013 including landslides and ground collapse \u2013 more accessible to planning authorities and the public by presenting it on the web. By logging onto a web portal, anyone from 52 of the biggest European towns and cities can learn how susceptible their region is to geological damage or risk, known as geohazards.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018I believe it is important for geohazard information to be easily accessible, understood and available to any user,\u2019 said Claire Roberts, coordinator of PanGeo.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-vlbzv33witc9rrkb75ol80h3jhavyh452q7sgegklsc\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-vLBZv33wITc9RrKb75oL80h3jhaVyh452Q7SGEGkLSc\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]