Atelier Découverte · Salle 1401 · 15:15 – 16:15
TERRA Live:
Intelligent Climate Services
from Space
Decisions, Not Pixels.
The new frontier of Earth Observation: selling processed intelligence, not raw imagery.
The Challenge
Why This Matters
“Water is the lifeblood of our planet.” It sustains ecosystems, economies, and communities. Yet it is under threat from pollution, flooding, and rising seas.
of global economic activity depends on water
jobs worldwide rely directly on water resources
Water-related risks rank among the top five global challenges we face today
— Source: TERRA Overview Video, TERRA Horizon Europe
The Basics
What is Earth Observation?
Earth Observation (EO) is the practice of using satellites to collect information about our planet's physical, chemical, and biological systems. Think of it as a medical check-up for the Earth, repeated every few days, from 700 km above.
- Optical sensors take photographs in visible and infrared light (like a camera, but much more powerful)
- Radar (SAR) bounces microwaves off the surface, seeing through clouds, day and night
- The data is free and openly available to anyone, anywhere in the world
“Across land, sea, and atmosphere, satellites continuously capture millions of data points that reveal how our environment evolves.”
Europe's Eyes in the Sky
Copernicus & the Sentinels
Copernicus is the European Union's Earth Observation programme, the largest in the world. It operates a fleet of Sentinel satellites, each designed for a different mission. The data has been available for 6-8 years, giving us powerful historical baselines.
Sentinel-1
Radar (SAR)
Sees through clouds, day and night. Used for ship detection, oil spills, and coastline mapping.
Sentinel-2
Optical Multispectral
High-resolution color imagery. Used for land classification, water quality (chlorophyll, turbidity), and vegetation health.
Sentinel-3
Ocean & Land Color
Wide-area coverage. Measures sea surface temperature, algal blooms, and coastal water quality.
All Copernicus data is free, open, and publicly accessible. Petabytes of imagery are generated every day.
The Value Gap
25 Terabytes per Day. Zero Decisions.
Copernicus generates over 25 TB of data every day. But a pixel is not a decision. The vast majority of this data remains functionally inaccessible to the civil servants, coastal planners, and coast guard operators who urgently need it.
Too Technical
Raw data requires specialized processing that most agencies lack.
Incompatible Formats
Different satellites produce data in different formats and projections.
Satellites Miss Days
Satellites can't provide data daily; gaps must be filled with AI augmentation.
No Training
Limited capacity for EO integration in regional administrations.
The New Frontier
Decisions, Not Pixels
The old model of Earth Observation sold imagery: raw pixels that required experts to interpret. The new frontier sells processed intelligence: answers that any decision-maker can act on immediately.
TERRA is the intelligent last-mile service layer that closes this gap, transforming Copernicus data into six operational products:
- Pollution alerts that arrive 48 hours before ground sensors detect them
- Hazard maps showing where contamination is moving and what to do about it
- "Dark vessel" detection that finds ships hiding from tracking systems
- Erosion forecasts that predict where your coastline will be next year
- Policy briefs that translate findings into regulatory action
- Digital Twins that let planners simulate "what if" scenarios
Real Stories
Three Pilots Across Europe
Greece: Water Pollution
Sperchios River & Maliakos Gulf, Fthiotida
The pixel: Sentinel-2 chlorophyll concentration values. The decision: “Close Beach X in 48 hours; pollution plume arriving from upstream.” TERRA fuses satellite + USV drone data to forecast how contamination travels from river to coast, affecting 550,000 people.
Poland: Maritime Security
Port of Gdansk, Baltic Sea
The pixel: SAR radar backscatter from the Baltic Sea. The decision: “Vessel at 54.3°N has gone dark; dispatch patrol.” TERRA fuses satellite radar with ship tracking to detect vessels that switch off their transponders, plus monitors 6-8 years of land and water chemistry trends.
Scotland: Coastal Erosion
Scottish Coastline, UK
The pixel: Multispectral reflectance along the Scottish coast. The decision: “This 200m stretch will retreat 3 metres by 2028; relocate infrastructure.” TERRA's Digital Twin tracks the vegetation edge, not the waterline, using fixed transects that let it observe, remember, and forecast.
Impact
From Reactive to Proactive
Decisions before the crisis: contamination alerts arrive two days ahead of ground sensors
AI accuracy in reading coastlines: machines classify what took survey teams weeks
Raw data cost: the pixels are free. The intelligence is the product.
The paradigm shift: traditional monitoring reacts to events after they happen. TERRA's AI-driven intelligence predicts them before they occur. The old EO model sold images for experts; TERRA sells answers for everyone.
Stakeholders
Who Does TERRA Empower?
“TERRA builds a tangible bridge between scientific innovation and the protection of territories and communities.”
Developers
A flexible platform to build innovative solutions on top of Copernicus data
Policy Makers
Data visualizations, maps, and policy briefs to guide evidence-based decisions
SMEs & Industry
Powerful open-source tools that lower barriers to market entry
Citizens
Improved climate resilience, protecting communities and the environment
Hands-On
Your Turn: Interactive Stations
Split into three groups. Every 12 minutes, rotate to the next station. At each one, you will interact with real satellite data in your browser.
Station Greece
Explore coastal water quality using Copernicus Browser. Can you spot the pollution plume where the Sperchios River meets the Maliakos Gulf?
Station Poland
Examine SAR radar imagery of the Port of Gdansk. Can you find the "dark vessel" hiding from tracking? Compare NDVI over 5 years.
Station Scotland
Compare coastline vegetation edges over time using fixed transect measurements. Where is the erosion happening and how fast?
Each station has a printed Policy Brief with background and guided questions.
Thank You
Decisions, Not Pixels.
The new frontier of Earth Observation is not about better cameras or more satellites. It is about turning petabytes of free public data into the specific decisions that protect water, coasts, and communities. That is what TERRA builds.
9 partners across 7 countries (Greece, Poland, UK, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Cyprus). Grant No. 101189962. €2M EU contribution. Jan 2025 to Dec 2027.