Presentation of the GMES initiative

The objective of GMES is to monitor and forecast the state of the environment on land, at sea and in the atmosphere and to improve the security of the citizens in a world facing an increased risk of natural and other disasters.

Information gathered and relayed by GMES helps to improve the management of our natural resources, monitor the quality of the water we drink or swim in, monitor and forecast the pollution of the air we breathe, plan our cities and prevent urban sprawl, ease the flow of transportation, optimise our agricultural activities and promote the development of renewable energy sources. Furthermore, GMES will enhance the safety of nations and citizens in numerous ways, for example by providing early warning of natural disasters and supporting the management of  humanitarian or regional crises, forest fires and floods, thereby helping to prevent loss of life and damage to property. It also will also provide a basis for enhanced modelling and forecasting activities to help improve our understanding of the drivers of climate change and mitigate its consequences.

GMES does not replace existing European capacities, but rather complements them with a view to fulfilling user needs and guaranteeing sustainability and European autonomy in the long term.

One main focus of GMES is of the combination of output from Earth Observation technologies with "in situ" data. The biggest challenge is to compile miscellaneous data, gathered on the ground, from the depths of the oceans, by aircraft or balloon, or by satellites, in order to assemble them into useable, compatible and comparable information services.

The output from GMES will become a vital source of timely and up-to-date environment and security information for the benefit of individual citizens and decision-makers (European, national, regional, local, corporations, etc).

GMES addresses five main application areas: Marine Services, Emergency Response Services, Land Services, Security and Atmosphere Services. G-MOSAIC is the demonstration project that addresses the Security thematic area.

Not only will GMES develop information on the current status of all these application areas, it will also provide forecasts useful for the prevention of catastrophes as well as the understanding and mitigation of climate change.

GMES information services are coming of age.  The first services are already operational and a large amount of information is becoming accessible, for the ultimate benefit of European citizens.  

Further information on the GMES initiative can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/gmes/