Led by CLS, the consortium brings together COTESA, GAF, GeoVille, e-GEOS, and Telespazio Ibérica, combining complementary expertise in Earth observation, geospatial data processing, and land monitoring.
This new framework contract reinforces CLS’s long-standing contribution to Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth Observation program, and its role in transforming satellite data into reliable information to better understand and monitor our changing environment.
Coastal and riparian areas are among Europe’s most dynamic and environmentally important landscapes.
The Copernicus Coastal Zones and Riparian Zones products provide detailed information on land cover and land use in these territories, offering a more precise characterization than pan-European datasets.
This information supports a better understanding of how these environments are evolving and provides valuable data for applications linked to environmental monitoring, biodiversity, land management, and climate adaptation.
Under the new contract, the consortium will produce new status layers for 2021, 2024, and 2027, moving from a six-year to a three-year update cycle. Existing 2012 and 2018 layers will also be harmonized and partially reprocessed.
An important evolution will also be the merge and harmonization of the Coastal Zones and Riparian Zones products into a single product, helping address overlaps and inconsistencies while improving classification and nomenclature.
This new contract builds on CLS’s longstanding involvement in the Copernicus program and further strengthens its role within the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (CLMS).
CLS already leads the generation of other key products from the service portfolio. This includes the pan-European High Resolution Layer (HRL)—Small Landscape Features (SLF) product suite, using satellite Earth observation and AI-driven image analysis to map and monitor small but important features such as hedgerows, shrubs, and trees across Europe.
Updated every three years, these products provide consistent information on the evolution of features that play an important role in biodiversity, ecological connectivity, sustainable agriculture, and climate resilience.
CLS is also consortium leader for the Copernicus Urban Atlas, a reference product providing detailed and harmonized land cover and land use information for urban areas across Europe. As this mapping already covers nearly 20 years of urban evolution and dynamics, it serves as a valuable tool for analysis and decision support for users.
Now, by leading the consortium responsible for the future Coastal Zones and Riparian Zones products, CLS is extending this leadership to some of Europe’s most dynamic environments.
Beyond these European products, CLS also leads the Hydrosphere and Cryosphere component of the Copernicus Global Land Service, contributing to the monitoring of water resources, snow, and ice at global scale.
From urban areas and small landscape features to rivers, coastlines, and global water resources, these initiatives demonstrate the breadth of CLS’s contribution to Copernicus Land and a common objective: transforming Earth observation data into reliable geospatial information to better understand environmental change and support informed decision-making.
