Example of usage

CloudFerro, the operator of CREODIAS, has started a bottom-up EO4UA initiative that aims at supporting Ukrainian and international authorities in assessing environmental Ukraine's losses by provisioning processing capabilities, combined with a large repository consisting of Earth Observation (EO) satellite data and higher-level products generated by end-users.  

Ukraine is a large agricultural country covering 60 million hectares, of which 42 million is agricultural land. Ukraine is an important producer and exporter of wheat, spring barley, sunflower oil/seed, corn, and sugar beets. 

The majority of importers of the Ukrainian and Russian food commodities are underdeveloped countries that have already been suffering from a food deficit.  

The war in Ukraine, the naval blockade of Ukrainian ships over the Black Sea, and an embargo on Russian goods (including fertilizers) will severely impact the food supply chain for the most vulnerable countries. Consequently, the food prices will increase by 8% to 22% and the population of undernourished people may increase by 8 to 13 million people depending on the modeling scenario (FAO,2022). 

Other huge environmental threats in Ukraine are related to massive deforestation, urban and infrastructural damages, wildfires, radioactive pollution and other environmental components. Thus, it is essential to monitor the Ukrainian environment and crop production in order to implement suitable mitigation actions whenever possible.  

In this respect, satellite imagery is a perfectly safe data source during wartime, featuring high temporal and spatial resolutions. Within the EO4UA initiative, a large satellite data archive combined with a computational environment of the CREODIAS cloud is provided by CloudFerro. Furthermore, a dedicated data cube will be generated and routinely updated for Ukraine, to facilitate scientific analyses. The data cube will consist of core data sets (Sentinel-1 back scatter & coherence, Sentinel-2 & Landsat 8/9 reflectance, Sentinel-3 products, vegetation indices, etc.) and data sets of EO4UA users who are willing to share their scientific results for Ukraine. The datasets will be open and publicly available through a dedicated geoportal. Currently, the Sentinel-1 backscatter processing has been completed and the products are available on https://finder.creodias.eu  

 

sentinel-1 backscatter products (CARD-BS) for 2021-2022 on https://finder.creodias.eu 

 The members of the EO4UA initiative are EO professionals from private, public, and academic sectors willing to support Ukraine by providing state-of-the-art expertise in EO analytics and by cooperating with Ukrainian scientists. The EO4UA initiative is open for new members willing to make a significant contribution to help Ukraine. In this respect a funding system is foreseen for computing grants, especially for Ukrainian researchers.  

For more information, please visit cloudferro.com/en/eo4ua/ or contact us via email eo4ua(at)cloudferro.com  

More information about the EO4UA initiative will be presented at the ESA Living Planet Symposium 2022 in Bonn on 23-27 May.