Update on GMES-Copernicus Land local service on riparian areas Environment Update on GMES-Copernicus Land local service on riparian areas 4th meeting MAES WG 10th January 2013

Update on GMES-Copernicus status Reg. 911/2010: EU Earth Observation programme & GMES Initial Operations (2011-13) with a budget of EUR 107M Land service: Global component + Pan-European and "local" Land Cover/Land Cover Change components Emergency Management Service Urban Atlas mapping ± 300 cities as part of Urban audit (DG REGIO funding) – 2011 product available (EEA website) On-going GMES Preparatory Action – Reference Data Access Development on EU-DEM (Digital Elevation Model) and EU-Hydro Started 2009 – end 2012 (validation being completed) FP7 Space projects Geoland2: land service precursor (will end 2012) Other FP7 projects - water and biodiversity (BIO-SOS, MS-MONINA, Freshmon, Glowasis, MyWater, Sirius..)

GMES Initial operations Land Monitoring service Full Pan-EU coverage High Resolution satellite images (20m) and Very High Resolution layer available for EU public organisations (access procedures through EIONET NRC land cover) Pan-European Land Cover services under development (€17 MIO identified, 2011-2013) 5 new High Resolution layers (1ha MMU) of dominant land-cover classes harmonised at EEA39 level (wall-to-wall coverage): „Imperviousness“, Forests, Small Waterbodies, Wetlands, Grasslands Continuity of CORINE Land Cover/LCC Will be available from mid-2013 onward (country by country) Local Land component mapping areas of interest at (Pan)EU level using Very High Resolution data (2-2,5m resolution) Urban Atlas (DG REGIO funding) – update 2013-14 Proposal for mapping Riparian areas at EU level €2.9 M proposed in GMES Work Programme 2013 DG ENV strongly engaged in collaboration with EEA, ETC-Biodiversity and JRC Coordinated by the EEA, dissemination on their portal

Pan-EU land component: High Resolution layer Imperviousness (20m) IMAGE2012 (IRS-LISS, 20m) Zalaegerszeg, Hungary Levels of sealed soil

Agricultural area characteristics: permanent grasslands

Wetland characteristics Satellite IRS-6 summer image Satellite IRS-6 spring image

Local component – Urban Atlas product „Zooming on Urban hotspot areas“ Ca. 50x50 km Based on multispectral VHR (2.5m) satellite data MMU = 0.25ha (urban zones) and 0,5 ha (rural areas) Positional Accurarcy: 5m Available on EEA website http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/urban-atlas

Precursor activities Building on exiting initiatives and precursor activities: JRC report on riparian zones (JRC report “Riparian zones: where green and blue networks meet”, EUR 24774 EN-2011) River basin management plans of Member States Corine LC and 5 Pan-European HRLs (imperviousness, forest, agriculture, wetlands and water bodies) Precursor projects: EBONE (e.g. European habitat data sources and common standards, phenology indicators, proposed observation framework, etc.) MS.MONINA and BIO_SOS EEA ECRINS (catchment and river network) Hydrographic layer EU-Hydro from GMES RDA preparatory action Urban Atlas LTER/LTSER LUCAS BIOPRESS Satchmo ……

GMES riparian areas mapping Characteristics Costs analysis carried out by EEA and ETC BD and scenarios proposal Basic scenario (2,9 M EUR): full exercise characteristics satellite images: based on Very High Resolution Pan-EU coverage acquired in 2011-2013 (Formosat- 2m resolution and Spot 5 - 2.5m) River hierarchy system: Strahler level 3 (500,000km of river segments) Extent of riparian zones: the average buffer width first estimate is 1 km using the JRC modelling and refining the delineation Area of Interest estimated to (2)*(3) = 500,000 km2 i.e. ± 10% EU territory Overall accuracy 85% MMU (Minimum Mapping Unit) 0.5ha Nomenclature based on 20-25 land cover classes relevant for riparian areas (e.g. EUNIS level 2 nomenclature or combination of EUNIS level 2 and other existing nomenclatures) Green linear elements identifiable on VHR images (e.g. rows of trees, hedgerows, dikes and dams Next steps - Refining scenario based on available GMES WP 2013 budget (in discussion) - Need for expert discussions (EEA, DG ENV, DG JRC, ETC/BD, MAES WG...) - Final proposal will be presented to GMES Prog. Committee on 10th December - EEA will draft technical specifications of the service and launch call for tenders

Local component: Biodiversity: riparian zones Proposal mapping Riparian areas (to be approved): 500,000 km (Strahler level 3) – buffer average 1km width 15-25 classes Based on multispectral VHR (2-2.5m) satellite data MMU = 0.5ha Accuracy: 85% Local component: Biodiversity: riparian zones

GMES-Copernicus riparian areas mapping Added-value compared to precursor activities in particular the JRC work on riparian zones at EU level Better resolution data: VHR satellite data and GMES Preparatory action's EU-DEM and EU-HYDRO. More accurate Digital Elevation Model will improve the identification of river network and riparian zone extent Nomenclature can be improved (Corine LC used for JRC exercise) Identification of linear elements (green elements, rows of trees, hedgerows, dikes and dams) can also improve information on fragmentation of habitats and river fragmentation

Policy relevance Mapping Riparian areas at EU level relevant to a number of policy areas, e.g.: POTENTIAL DIRECT INPUT TO MAES EU Biodiversity strategy 2020 - TARGET 2: 'Maintain and restore ecosystems and their services' ACTION 5: "Improve knowledge of ecosystems and their services in the EU: Member States, with the assistance of the Commission, will map and assess the state of ecosystems and their services in their national territory by 2014 (…)" New activity – little information available on ecosystems and their services Important to have seamless, harmonised and comparable information accross EU Also relevant to: management of river systems (Water framework directive) flood protection (flood directive) coastal management adaptation to climate change Neighborhood Policy (e.g. Danube River Protection Convention)

Relevance of riparian areas for ecosystems mapping Major eco-system category (level 1) Ecosystem type for mapping and assessment (level 2) Benefits of mapping Problems of mapping Terrestrial Urban Urban areas represent mainly human habitats but they usually include significant areas for synanthropic species CLC’s coarse resolution that needs to be complemented e.g. by Urban atlas (ca 300 cities) and HRL Imperviousness Cropland Main food production areas, intensively managed ecosystems Habitat classification (e.g. EUNIS) includes permanent crops into Heathland and scrub Grassland Areas dominated by grassy vegetation of two kinds – managed pastures and natural (extensively managed) grasslands Distinction between intensively used and more natural grasslands requires additional datasets (Art. 17) Woodland and forest Climax ecosystem type on most of the area supporting many ecosystem services Missing information on quality and management requires additional datasets (Art. 17, HRL forest) Heathland and shrub Mostly secondary ecosystems with unfavourable natural conditions Mapping the condition of these areas requires combination with Art.17 Sparsely vegetated land Ecosystems with extreme natural conditions that might support valuable species Becomes a conglomerate of distinctive rarely occurring ecosystems, often defined by different geographical location Wetlands Specific plant and animal communities, water regulation, peat-related processes Separation from grasslands (temporary inundation) and forests (tree canopy), HRL wetlands Fresh water Rivers and lakes All permanent freshwater surface waters Underestimation of water courses and small water bodies needs application of external datasets (ECRINS, (HRL Small lakes) Marine Estuaries Transitional waters that are neither river nor sea Water column and benthic ecosystem now considered together, but might need separate mapping[3].

Ecosystem services in riparian areas CICES v4 group   CICES v4 group Provisioning services Terrestrial plants and animal for food Freshwater plants and animal for food Marine algae and animal for food Water for human consumption Water for agricultural use Water for industrial and energy uses Biotic materials Biotic materials (Genetic resources) Biotic materials (Medicinal and cosmetic resources) Biotic materials (Ornamental resources) Biomass based energy Regulating services (TEEB) Dilution and sequestration Bioremediation Regulating and supporting services (MA) Water quality regulation Regulating and maintenance services (CICES) Water flow regulation Mass flow regulation (erosion protection) Atmospheric regulation Ecosystem services in riparian areas   Air flow regulation Pedogenesis and soil quality regulation Lifecycle maintenance, habitat and gene pool protection (pollination) Pest and disease control including alien species Lifecycle maintenance, habitat and gene pool protection Cultural services Spiritual Aesthetic, Heritage Recreation and community activities Information and knowledge

Source: NEA

Source: NEA

Involvement of MAES-WG in GMES-Copernicus Which riparian mapping exercises on national or regional level or on supra-regional water basin level are you aware of and could you use for assessing and mapping riparian area-related ES and ESS? Could you please provide us with web addresses, contacts, methodologies? Do you see this EU-layer as directly relevant for your work? If not, why not? MS are normally directly involved in the production of GMES-Copernicus layers (such as CLC) via EIONET. The budget for this layer does not allow a de-centralized production in EU-27; the EC however wishes to guarantee an involvement of potential users (MAES group) who are invited to link themselves to the GMES-Copernicus national coordinator and through EIONET NFP and NRC (eg Land Use) Do you want to critically contribute to the production of this layer? This could include the involvement in the steering committee for the contract which is currently prepared by the EEA, on the quality of the parts covering their territory, or feedback on usefulness of the proposed methodology and coverage

Thank you for your attention