Dear all,

Please spread around your networks for those working in coastal zones, with data requirements, particularly around European monitoring. Note the deadline for submissions is 15^th November – for Earth Observation people jump to the original email below, for non Earth Observation people here’s a stab at why it’s relevant with some educated guess work at the acronyms.

There’s a chance to:

• comment on overall nomenclature, review detail of each of the 67 classes,
• check the coastal area of interest includes areas you would expect and need included (I did some quick screen grabs so you can make a quick assessment as to whether need to comment)
• express the marine and land data services requirements of those working on/related to coastal zones.

Context

In 2019 the European Environment Agency (EEA) launched the implementation of a new thematic hotspot product to monitor landscape dynamics in coastal zones. The new products will cover all European coastal territory to an inland depth of 10 km with a total area of approximately 730,000 km². The products will have a minimum mapping unit of 0.5 ha and record around 60 Land Cover(LC)/Land Use (LU) classes.

Thematic hotspot mapping activities within the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CLMS) aim, complementary to generic wall-to-wall mapping, to provide specific and detailed land cover / land use (LC/LU) information to address environmental challenges and issues.

The initial production of the Coastal Zone hotspot thematic mapping will consist of:

• a LC/LU status layer for 2012
• a LC/LU change layer between 2012 and 2018
• and a LC/LU status layer for 2018

As with the other thematic hotspot products, the Coastal Zones product will provide change/status every 6 years. The release of the Coastal Zones products is expected to begin by the end of 2020.

You can view the ‘Thematic hotspot monitoring in coastal zones’ factsheet here.

Consultation

This first preparatory phase with the help of the user community, aims to:

1. Finalise the CZ LC/LU nomenclature. In Common to all thematic hotspot nomenclatures, the CZ nomenclature will share a range of basic LC/LU classes with Riparian Zones and Natura 2000, and address with specific classes the particular issues and characteristics of coastal zones. To consult and share your feedback on the Coastal Zone products LC/LU nomenclature, please reply to this questionnaire(prior to 15th of November).

The Coastal Zone product nomenclature is quite complex and is composed of 67 classes specific for the land part of the coastal zone. The nomenclature has been defined according to the Very High Resolution (VHR) images identifiable classes. Before starting I suggest you download the following documents:

• Nomenclature
• Class description

2. Amend the coastal area of interest to be mapped. Including reviewing and refining the coastal belt of all European coasts and islands. The initial definition calls for the revision of the arbitrary 10 km wide strip on landward side including all the maritime infrastructures and all land areas under clear coastal influence, or being clearly relevant for coastal zones even if reaching further than 10 km landwards. Besides the finalisation of the LC/LU specifications. To consult and request any amendment on the coastal areas of interest (AOI) which are to be mapped, we encourage you to consult the webgis platform(prior to 15th of November).

3. Assess current and future user needsto create a comprehensive coastal zones monitoring produce with the particular focus on the Land phenomena in coastal zones (including rivers) please complete this survey (prior to 15th of November).  Covers general questions addressing the coastal community activities and the existing data and products and specific questions based on the “Roadmap for the evolution of Copernicus marine and land services to better serve coastal users” report of December, 2018 that identifies a number of other potential coastal products. 

Briony Turner | Climate Services Development Manager, Space4Climate, NCEO

T: +44 07785 358 776   E: b.d.turner@reading.ac.uk    Follow Space4Climate on Twitter: @space4climate