To understand the processes involved in the deep interior of the Earth and explaining its evolution, in particular the dynamics of the Earth’s fluid iron-rich outer core, only indirect satellite and ground observations are available. They each provide invaluable information about the core flow but are incomplete on their own: - The time dependent magnetic field, originating mainly within the core, can be used to infer the motions of the fluid at the top of the core on decadal and subdecadal time scales. - The time dependent gravity field variations that reflect changes in the mass distribution within the Earth and at its surface occur on a broad range of time scales. Decadal and interannual variations include the signature of the flow inside the core, though they are largely dominated by surface contributions related to the global water cycle and climate-driven land ice loss. - Earth rotation changes (or variations in the length of the day) also occur on these timescales, and are largely related to the core fluid motions through exchange of angular momentum between the core and the mantle. The GRACEFUL project will go beyond the potential of individual satellite and ground observations and will combine the information about the core deduced from the gravity field, from the magnetic field and from the Earth rotation in synergy, in order to examine in unprecedented depth the dynamical processes occurring inside the core and at the core-mantle boundary. We will develop cutting-edge algorithms to process observational data and use up-to-date numerical models of the core flow to infer its dynamics. This interdisciplinary approach will challenge our current understanding of the core dynamics and provide a step change in our understanding of the deep Earth’s interior. The pioneering approach of GRACEFUL will provide an innovative template to obtain totally novel information about the dynamic processes inside the fluid core and core-mantle boundary of the Earth.

Groundwater is one of the most important freshwater resources for mankind and for ecosystems. Assessing groundwater resources and developing sustainable water management plans based on this resource is a major field of activity for science, water authorities and consultancies worldwide. Due to its fundamental role in the Earth’s water and energy cycles, groundwater has been declared as an Essential Climate Variable (ECV) by GCOS, the Global Climate Observing System. The Copernicus Services, however, do not yet deliver data on this fundamental resource, nor is there any other data source worldwide that operationally provides information on changing groundwater resources in a consistent way, observation-based, and with global coverage. This gap will be closed by G3P, the Global Gravity-based Groundwater Product. The G3P consortium combines key expertise from science and industry across Europe that optimally allows to (1) capitalize from the unique capability of GRACE and GRACE-FO satellite gravimetry as the only remote sensing technology to monitor subsurface mass variations and thus groundwater storage change for large areas, (2) incorporate and advance a wealth of products on storage compartments of the water cycle that are part of the Copernicus portfolio, and (3) disseminate unprecedented information on changing groundwater storage to the global and European user communities, including a European use case as a demonstrator for industry potential in the water sector. In combination, the G3P development is a novel and cross-cutting extension of the Copernicus portfolio towards essential information on the changing state of water resources at European and global scales. G3P is timely given the recent launch of GRACE-FO that opens up the chance for gravity-based time series with sufficient length to monitor climate-induced and human-induced processes over more than 20 years, and to boost European space technology on board these satellites.

InFuse aims to develop very essential data fusion capabilities (aka. Common Data Fusion Framework, or CDFF) that will serve in the context of many space robotics applications, on planetary surface as well as in orbit or other microgravity environments. The InFuse CDFF will be developed relying on the expertise of partners having tangible experience with a wide range of sensors data processing (Perception and Navigation related) and a wide range of robotic applications – both in space and terrestrial conditions. InFuse makes provision for convenient and effective articulation with other SRC common building blocks – in particular: OG1 (RCOS), OG2 (autonomy framework) and OG4 (sensors suite). The solution proposed in InFuse to wrap and handle data fusion technologies and their produced data will make easy and effective their adoption by a wide range of users, both among the SRC stakeholders and in the wider space robotics community. In particular, InFuse will not only provide access to an extensive set of robust data fusion capabilities, applicable both On-Orbit and Planetary scenarios, but will also include a data product management component allowing to retrieve and request conveniently (on-demand) relevant data such as maps, models of the environment or objects, possibly science data, etc.

“Today, one third of the world’s people, mainly in least developed countries and small island developing states, are still not covered by early warning systems... This is unacceptable, particularly with climate impacts sure to get even worse. Early warnings and action save lives. To that end, today I announce the United Nations will spearhead new action to ensure every person on Earth is protected by early warning systems within five years.” - UN Secretary-General António Guterres on World Meteorological Day 2022/03/23 The ambition of the Strengthening Extreme Events Detection for Floods and Droughts (SEED-FD) project proposal is to give Europe, with the Copernicus Emergency Management Service, a leading position with this regard by breaking the current limitations of hydrological simulation accuracy and reliability and providing skillful floods and droughts forecasts available anywhere in the world, including in the global south for lower and middle-income countries, typically the most impacted by extreme hydrological events but also where the current knowledge gap in hydrological simulation and forecasting is highest. Combining state-of-the-art science with crucial advances in EO and non-EO technologies, the project's global objective is to enhance the quality and portfolio of the CEMS EWS for floods and droughts and improve the reliability of predictions all over the world. SEED-FD will target every critical part of the CEMS Hydrological Forecasting Modelling chain by applying state-of-the-art science to transform new observational information into high-quality hydrometeo extreme event forecast products. It will invest in better representing hydrological processes and parameterisation techniques of the CEMS core hydrological engine (LISFLOOD) and combine the model enhancements with innovative techniques to integrate EO and non-EO data with the near real-time hydrological processing chain for reducing hydrological forecasting errors.