Coordinating and Monitoring Quality Information for the Copernicus Services: Case Study with Optical Data Abstract\uFFFD

One of the key elements of Copernicus is its Space Component (CSC). Beyond the development of the Sentinel missions, the CSC also entails the coordination of assets made available by the data providers of Copernicus Contributing Mission (CCMs) to implement a synergistic and complete operational system-of-systems in Europe for the provision of Earth Observation (EO) data. In the framework of Copernicus, ESA is in charge of developing an efficient and harmonised system to facilitate access to relevant EO data by the Copernicus Service Projects (CSPs). This is achieved through the implementation of the Copernicus Space Component Data Access (CSCDA). The Coordinated Quality Control (CQC) is the CSCDA component in charge of monitoring the quality of the EO DataSets and of coordinating the provision of data quality information to the users. Quality information is based upon CCM input specifications and quality parameters, that are made available to the users in a harmonized way. The CQC thus monitors that the data providers maintain the specified quality level and more particularly with respect to user requirements. The paper introduces the dynamics of the CSCDA and presents the approach adopted for managing quality information. Some results, obtained in case of optical data quality check are then given and discussed.