Common use of Discussion and Conclusions Clause in Contracts

Discussion and Conclusions. The Copernicus Services and Space component requirements for in situ data in the Arctic Region have been collected and analysed. The analysis shows that although the monitoring of the Arctic in the future will rely heavily on satellite observations, it is mandatory for Copernicus to have timely access to a broad suite of in situ observation of sufficient quality and resolution in time and space. The Copernicus community has articulated clearly which variables are essential for their production line as well as their requirement for timely delivery and quality, while the resolution in time and space is still open for further clarification. The latter issue is being addressed in the Copernicus In Situ Coordination Information System (CIS2), established within the Copernicus In Situ Component led by EEA. The project group has collected a thorough, although not complete, overview of existing in situ data from the Arctic:  Data already used by the Copernicus Services and Space component  Data freely available at various national and international data repositories but still not used in the Copernicus production line  Data with restricted availability due to institutional and/or national data policies  Data collected in research projects without a data management structure enabling a free data exchange. A full overview of this data category may require further work A gap analysis has been performed by comparing the amount of existing data to the requirements for in situ data. The analysis is general in nature since a detailed gap analysis will require clear definitions of the required resolution in time and space. The analysis has identified two groups of data gaps: 1. Observations needed but do not exist. This kind of gap can be roughly identified by comparing the requirements and spatiotemporal distribution of the observations. 2. Observations exist but are not being used because a. Data are not freely available due to for example. data policy, lack of institutional data management structure, research publication, economic benefit, technological confidentiality and even political issues. b. They do not fit Copernicus purposes due to i. Untimely availability - most of the applications have strong time limits, e.g. near real time forecast and validation need observations in near real time; interim reanalysis needs observations in interim scale, i.e., 1-12 months before production time. ii. lack of sufficient metadata iii. Inadequate quality - observations for Copernicus must fulfil certain quality standards. In addition to the data gaps, two important gaps have been identified:  Gaps in technology. The harsh and remote environment puts special demands on the instrumentation for in situ observations as well as data communication in near real-time, and the existing technology and infrastructure is extremely costly. The gap in technology has up to now put limitations on the monitoring of the Arctic, so there is a need to find innovative cost-effective technological solutions for Arctic observations securing continuous NRT data flow from this harsh environment, including during wintertime.  Gaps in Sustainability. The sustainability of observations is highlighted as very important to maintain areal coverage and long timeseries. The sustainability problem has recently been surveyed and documented by the Copernicus In Situ Coordination Component (▇▇▇▇ et al, 2019) showing severe sustainability problems for European in situ observations in general - particularly for atmospheric composition and ocean observations. The present analysis shows that the sustainability issue is more pronounced in the Arctic for all thematic domains, since many in situ observations rely on time limited research funds.

Discussion and Conclusions. The Copernicus Services and Space component requirements for in situ data in the Arctic Region have been collected and analysed. The analysis shows that although the monitoring of the Arctic in the future will rely heavily on satellite observations, it is mandatory for Copernicus to have timely access to a broad suite of in situ observation of sufficient quality and resolution in time and space. The Copernicus community has articulated clearly which variables are essential for their production line as well as their requirement for timely delivery and quality, while the resolution in time and space is still open for further clarification. The latter issue is being addressed in the Copernicus In Situ Coordination Information System (CIS2), established within the Copernicus In Situ Component led by EEA. The project group has collected a thorough, although not complete, overview of existing in situ data from the Arctic:  • Data already used by the Copernicus Services and Space component  • Data freely available at various national and international data repositories but still not used in the Copernicus production line  • Data with restricted availability due to institutional and/or national data policies  • Data collected in research projects without a data management structure enabling a free data exchange. A full overview of this data category may require further work A gap analysis has been performed by comparing the amount of existing data to the requirements for in situ data. The analysis is general in nature since a detailed gap analysis will require clear definitions of the required resolution in time and space. The analysis has identified two groups of data gaps: 1. Observations needed but do not exist. This kind of gap can be roughly identified by comparing the requirements and spatiotemporal distribution of the observations. 2. Observations exist but are not being used because a. Data are not freely available due to for example. data policy, lack of institutional data management structure, research publication, economic benefit, technological confidentiality and even political issues. b. They do not fit Copernicus purposes due to i. Untimely availability - most of the applications have strong time limits, e.g. near real time forecast and validation need observations in near real time; interim reanalysis needs observations in interim scale, i.e., 1-12 months before production time. ii. lack of sufficient metadata iii. Inadequate quality - observations for Copernicus must fulfil certain quality standards. In addition to the data gaps, two important gaps have been identified:  • Gaps in technology. The harsh and remote environment puts special demands on the instrumentation for in situ observations as well as data communication in near real-time, and the existing technology and infrastructure is extremely costly. The gap in technology has up to now put limitations on the monitoring of the Arctic, so there is a need to find innovative cost-effective technological solutions for Arctic observations securing continuous NRT data flow from this harsh environment, including during wintertime.  • Gaps in Sustainability. The sustainability of observations is highlighted as very important to maintain areal coverage and long timeseries. The sustainability problem has recently been surveyed and documented by the Copernicus In Situ Coordination Component (▇▇▇▇ et al, 2019) showing severe sustainability problems for European in situ observations in general - particularly for atmospheric composition and ocean observations. The present analysis shows that the sustainability issue is more pronounced in the Arctic for all thematic domains, since many in situ observations rely on time limited research funds.