GMES Preparatory Activities (GPA)

GMES

1. The space component, which includes development and operations of all satellite and ground segment infrastructure providing the required data streams

2. The in-situ component, which includes development and operation of all ground based and airborne data gathering networks. This also includes socio-economic data such as demographic data, industrial output data and epidemiological data.

3. Data harmonisation and standardisation, including infrastructure for data assimilation, standardised processing, data fusion, modelling and forecasting and service support infrastructure such as data access, catalogue, archive and customer support facilities

4. User oriented services, including data procurement, information generation and delivery, product quality assurance and monitoring compliance with user domain working practices, standards and legislative requirements
 
ESA is presently conducting a suite of activities to define more precisely the space component of GMES. These Preparatory Activities support the drafting of a formal programme proposal for the implementation of the GMES Space Component, which will be presented to the ESA Ministerial Council meeting at the end of 2005.

There are four main elements within the Preparatory Activities:

1. An analysis of the Socio-Economic Benefits and Impacts that will result from the implementation of GMES

2. An analysis of the architectural requirements of GMES, ie the organisation of the GMES Space component in terms of its components, their relationships to each other and to the external environment and the principles governing the design and evolution of the GMES space component. This is split into four parallel studies as follows:
   
   
   • Analysis of the long term (2015 – 2030) scenario for GMES implementation. This will define a picture of the EO Component in 2030 and of how it will interface with the other elements, and feed them with data and information. This will address technological and functional/organisational issues and come up with a target overall scenario, and a more detailed scenario for the EO Component.
     
     
   • Analysis of the Space missions architecture status and evolution in the period to 2015 to enable the derivation of the resulting development approach and operation/utilization concept for the Sentinel family of missions.
     
     
   • Analysis of the Ground Segment evolution in the period to 2015, focussing on the technical approach and implementation plans for incorporating the Sentinel satellites into a Multi-Mission, distributed Payload Data Ground Segment
   • Analysis of the evolution of GMES Services in the period to 2015, which includes a definition of operational architectures to support service delivery, an assessment of the factors driving the evolution of the social, political, technological and industrial context within which GMES services will be delivered and a definition of the requirements that the GMES Service Portfolio roll-out will place on the other components of GMES (in particular the space and ground segment)

3. Ground-Segment activities – These are the next step in implementing the Oxygen principles. There are three main lines to be implemented in the preparatory phase:
   
   
   • Interfaces standardisation, including harmonisation with national level developments, definition and implementation of ground segment elements standards, and establishment of interfaces to other data holdings for thematic supply of regional data.
     
     
   • Improvements and evolution of existing ground segment infrastructure capabilities, including on line users access and operational services enabling infrastructure
     
     
   • Modelling and prototyping enhanced capabilities (eg NRT access to national missions)

4. Definition studies for each satellite within the Sentinel family. Three definition studies will be performed for the Sentinel 1, 2 and 3 families. Each of the individual definition studies will have similar outline and the same objective, namely to reach the level of the System Requirement Review for the mission concerned. For the Sentinel 4 and 5 families, whose level of maturity is not as advanced as the other Sentinels, pre-definition studies are to be carried out.