Published in Scientific Papers. Series E. Land Reclamation, Earth Observation & Surveying, Environmental Engineering, Vol. XII
Written by Denis MIHAILESCU, Sorin Mihai CIMPEANU
The development of Earth Observation Systems in Europe began since the 1970s. France, through the National Center for Space Studies (CNES) together with partners from Belgium and Sweden and later through the establishment of Spot Image, laid the foundations of the SPOT space program. The year 1998 brings the first steps of a new common space program of the EU countries by the appearance of the GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) initiative. In 2014 GMES changed its name to Copernicus and is coordinated and managed by the European Commission, in collaboration with European Space Agency for the space component, European Environment Agency and Member States for the in-situ component. An important step in the study of vegetation was made with the emergence of the SPOT-VEGETATION program based on SPOT 4 and 5 from 1998 to 2013, followed by Proba-V from 2013 until 2020 and continued today by Sentinel-3. Vegetation indices are widely used for assessment of green biomass, crop production, plant health and stress to water scarcity, extreme weather conditions, and diseases.
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