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It’s World Soil Day, so let's talk about actual dirt.

Like the fact that 95% of our food comes from soils, and how just one cubic metre of healthy soil can retain over 250 litres of water. Healthy soil also plays a crucial role as a natural filter, purifying and storing water as it infiltrates into the ground, not to mention its ability to support biodiversity and help regulate climate.

Unfortunately, the world’s soils aren’t in very good shape. In the face of climate change, human activity and excessive pesticide use, soils have become degraded, which has had a domino effect, impacting everything from water resources to erosion and food production.

The good news is that it’s not too late. 

With sustainable soil management practices, such as minimum tillage, crop rotation, organic matter addition and cover cropping, we can improve soil health, reduce erosion and pollution and enhance water infiltration and storage. These practices also preserve soil biodiversity, improve fertility and contribute to carbon sequestration – playing a crucial role in the fight against climate change.

This is why the European Commission, through its EU Soil Strategy for 2030, is taking concrete steps to not only protect and restore soils, but to ensure that they are used sustainably.

Supporting this strategy is EU Space.

At the forefront of sustainable soil management

EU Space is at the forefront of sustainable soil management. Take Earth Observation for instance. With data gathered by Copernicus satellites, combined with various ground measurements, researchers can monitor and verify soil conditions including soil moisture, soil sealing and temperature. 

Having access to such information can help farmers increase yields and productivity while also reducing their environmental impact. It does this by essentially letting them ‘see’ which crops would benefit most from the use of pesticides and allowing them to apply pesticides to just those crops. The net result is a decrease in the amount of contaminating pesticides being put into the ground and an overall increase in soil health. 

Read more: Can we halve the use of pesticides in the EU by 2030?

EU Space’s soil-saving capabilities go beyond the agricultural sector. For example, with EGNSS and Copernicus, and the European Ground Motion Service (EGMS) scientists can monitor ground movement and deformation, allowing them to take steps to prevent the erosion of our precious topsoil. This same data can be used to provide early warnings for such natural disasters as earth and mudslides.     

EU Space is the key

If having healthy soil is the lock to a healthy, sustainable society, then EU Space is the key. 

Learn more: 10 ways EU Space helps fight global hunger

“By helping the agriculture sector sustainably manage its soil resources, EU Space helps increase crop yields to ensure we have enough food to feed the world’s growing population,” says EUSPA Executive Director Rodrigo da Costa. “Furthermore, because healthy soil can naturally remove and store carbon dioxide, by protecting it, EU Space is helping balance the global carbon budget and slowing the pace of global warming.”      

So, as we celebrate the dirt below our feet, let’s take a moment to look up and remember the important role EU Space plays in protecting and restoring our soils.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).

The newly published EUSpace4Ukraine white paper and interactive maps, called StoryMap help interested parties understand how EU space capabilities especially Earth Observation can benefit NGOs in areas of war and crises.

For example, Copernicus-derived insights regarding agricultural parameters such as variations of crop type and cropland extent in time and space in Ukraine can inform short-term operations (e.g., directing remediation efforts) and medium to long-term strategies (e.g., anticipating possible food shortages).

The European Union (EU) Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) launched the EUSpace4Ukraine initiative in April 2022 in response to the war in Ukraine. The objective is to support innovation and uptake of EU Space Programme solutions by humanitarian aid actors working in Ukraine, with the new white paper and StoryMap on Copernicus-enabled impact assessment as one of three demonstrators within the initiative. 

As part of the EU Space Programme, the Copernicus Programme relies upon the EU Sentinels and third party Earth Observation (EO) satellites, in-situ (non-space based) data, and data-derived products available via the Copernicus Services. EO data in general and Copernicus in particular can be utilised for various use cases across several market segments, including agriculture.

The white paper provides context regarding the importance of the agricultural sector within Ukraine, and then dives into a quantitative assessment of the impacts of war on agriculture derived from Copernicus data. Sentinel data was used to estimate cropland extent before and during the intensification of the war (2022). The total cropland area in 2022 compared to 2017-2021 mean across all crops decreased by ~7% (nearly 2 million ha), while the most affected crops (wheat / barley, sunflower and corn) experienced up to ~13% drop in cropland extent. Regional differences and temporal evolution suggest that war activities directly impact cropland extent for important crops. The data can be explored in more detail in the accompanying interactive online StoryMap.

The decline in cropland extent as assessed via Sentinel data comes with implications for local, regional and global food security as well as people’s economic circumstances and livelihoods. Furthermore, such insights derived from the Copernicus Programme can support operational decision-making for NGOs in areas where remediation is most critical to enable the continuation of agricultural activities that ultimately support lives.

Additional examples of Copernicus capabilities showcase applications beyond agriculture to inspire the uptake of existing solutions and the development of new use cases. The paper also presents key stakeholders within the EUSpace4Ukraine initiative and their relevant capabilities to give a flavour of the variety and depth of technical EO-related expertise available within the EU. In addition, example end-user perspectives validate the usefulness and give an idea of how the Copernicus-enabled insights can be implemented.

Stakeholders interested in learning more about the solutions or being part of the EUSpace4Ukraine network can get in touch via euspace4ukraine@euspa.europa.eu.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).

The newly published EUSpace4Ukraine white paper and interactive maps, called StoryMap help interested parties understand how EU space capabilities especially Earth Observation can benefit NGOs in areas of war and crises.

For example, Copernicus-derived insights regarding agricultural parameters such as variations of crop type and cropland extent in time and space in Ukraine can inform short-term operations (e.g., directing remediation efforts) and medium to long-term strategies (e.g., anticipating possible food shortages).

The EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) launched the EUSpace4Ukraine initiative in April 2022 in response to the war in Ukraine. The objective is to support innovation and uptake of EU Space Programme solutions by humanitarian aid actors working in Ukraine, with the new white paper and StoryMap on Copernicus-enabled impact assessment as one of three demonstrators within the initiative. 

As part of the EU Space Programme, the Copernicus Programme relies upon the EU Sentinels and third party Earth Observation (EO) satellites, in-situ (non-space based) data, and data-derived products available via the Copernicus Services. EO data in general and Copernicus in particular can be utilised for various use cases across several market segments, including agriculture.

The white paper provides context regarding the importance of the agricultural sector within Ukraine, and then dives into a quantitative assessment of the impacts of war on agriculture derived from Copernicus data. Sentinel data was used to estimate cropland extent before and during the intensification of the war (2022). The total cropland area in 2022 compared to 2017-2021 mean across all crops decreased by ~7% (nearly 2 million ha), while the most affected crops (wheat / barley, sunflower and corn) experienced up to ~13% drop in cropland extent. Regional differences and temporal evolution suggest that war activities directly impact cropland extent for important crops. The data can be explored in more detail in the accompanying interactive online StoryMap.

The decline in cropland extent as assessed via Sentinel data comes with implications for local, regional and global food security as well as people’s economic circumstances and livelihoods. Furthermore, such insights derived from the Copernicus Programme can support operational decision-making for NGOs in areas where remediation is most critical to enable the continuation of agricultural activities that ultimately support lives.

Additional examples of Copernicus capabilities showcase applications beyond agriculture to inspire the uptake of existing solutions and the development of new use cases. The paper also presents key stakeholders within the EUSpace4Ukraine initiative and their relevant capabilities to give a flavour of the variety and depth of technical EO-related expertise available within the EU. In addition, example end-user perspectives validate the usefulness and give an idea of how the Copernicus-enabled insights can be implemented.

Stakeholders interested in learning more about the solutions or being part of the EUSpace4Ukraine network can get in touch via euspace4ukraine@euspa.europa.eu.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).