ESA Open Invitation To Tender AO8695
Open Date: 29/07/2016
Closing Date: 30/09/2016 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 15.155.22
Prog. Ref.: EOEP-4 Data User Ele
Budget Ref.: E/0096-E4 – EOEP-4 Data User Ele
Special Prov.: BE+DK+FR+DE+IT+NL+ES+SE+CH+GB+IE+AT+NO+FI+PT+LU+CZ+RO+PL+EE+CA
Tender Type: C
Price Range: > 500 KEURO
Products: Ground Segment / Mission Operations / Other
Technology Domains: Others
Establishment: ESRIN
Directorate: Directorate of EO Programmes
Department: Science, Appl & Future Technologies Department
Division: Exploitation and Services Division
Contract Officer: Boisard, Nathalie
Industrial Policy Measure: N/A – Not apply
Last Update Date: 29/07/2016
Update Reason: Tender issue

A global knowledge of the state of and changes to biological diversity can only be based on a combination of in-situ and remotely sensed observations integrated into a comprehensive biodiversity knowledge system. The needs to integrate satellite observations in a unified and global biodiversity monitoring strategy has been recognised by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the recently formed Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity (IPBES). A framework for such a global and integrated biodiversity monitoring system was developed by the Group on Earth Observation Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) under the general concept of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBV). The objective of the activity is to perform all necessary RD activities for the development, specification, benchmarking, validation, up-scaling and utility demonstration of Remotely Sensed Essential Biodiversity Variables (RS-EBVs) on the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems. The project shall address the RS-EBVs that can be retrieved directly and indirectly by Earth Observation satellites and that can contribute to the assessment and monitoring of terrestrial ecosystems structure (characterisation of the ecosystem components such as ecosystem extent and distribution, ecosystem fragmentation, land cover and habitat mapping) and terrestrial ecosystems function (characterisation of the ecosystem processes such as vegetation phenology, primary productivity, inundation regimes). The primary EO data source shall come from HR satellite missions that have a free and open data policy and a long-term observation continuity (e.g. Sentinel 1, Sentinel 2 and Landsat 8) but the project shall also address scale-dependencies and determine the appropriate scales for each set of RS-EBVs, including the use of moderate resolution sensors (e.g. Sentinel 3 OLCI, PROVA-B, MODIS, VIIRS). The Contractor shall firstly fully specify and develop a limited number of RS-EBVs and secondly analyse (principally by literature surveys and paper analysis) how the developed RS-EBVs can be complemented with other variables to fully characterise the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems. The selected RS-EBVs shall be developed, tested and validated on a representative number of terrestrial (including coastal and freshwater) habitats and biomes. The Contractor shall also perform a number of utility case studies by assimilating RS-EBVs in ecological modelling (e.g. predictive modelling of plant and animal species distribution) to demonstrate the relevance of the RS-EBVs and their suitability in ecologically-meaningful biodiversity and conservation analyses. The Contractor shall also demonstrate the capacity to produce automatically the selected RS-EBVs on a cloud-computing platform, with the objective to showcase the upscaling potentials of the developed algorithms over large geographical areas. All RS-EBVs developed by the project shall have a full technical specification for a future implementation in an operational framework (Copernicus or others). The Contractor shall also increase awareness amongst the biodiversity and conservation community on the contribution of satellite Earth Observations to the EBVs by organising RS-EBVS workshops and participating to a number of international events.

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