The third edition of an international competition ‘Seize the Beauty of our Planet’ has just started. As previous editions, it combines space technologies with a pro-environmental approach, and this year its motto is “Together for Blue Earth!” because it focuses on water on our planet. It is organized by CloudFerro, the provider and operator of Earth Observation platforms with access to Copernicus data and a cloud environment to process it.
It is estimated that about 70 percent of the Earth's surface is covered with different forms of water, which benefits all the organisms living on Earth. Almost all the regions of our planet have been recently affected by such phenomena as water pollution, droughts, the consequences of river regulations, floods, or water level rise. Many European and international organizations intensify their efforts to save this blue resource from further degradation, yet, there is a lot to be done.
By organising ‘Seize the beauty of our Planet’ competition, CloudFerro wants to contribute to these efforts. In addition, as the provider and operator of Earth observation platforms, such as CREODIAS, WEkEO, CODE-DE and EO-Lab, the company is also promoting the use of Copernicus Earth observation data in environmental research, to show that it plays a key role in efficient and cost-effective monitoring of water resources. Satellite observations data from the European Earth Observation programme Copernicus is available in many attributes, both spectral and spatial ones, which provides researchers and scientists with excellent resources for water analysis in all dimensions, from local to global and from visible to radar techniques.
It is the third time that we have been organizing the contest. By observing a growing number of entries each year, we can see that the Earth observation community is very keen on contributing to the efforts to raise environmental awareness. We are very happy that our contest serves as the catalyst for a joint action on environmental protection. This year, we want to draw attention to an alarming condition of water ecosystems and an urgent need to prevent their further degradation. We are also happy that our partners and clients – EUMETSAT, German Aerospace Agency DLR, and the Polish Space Agency have joined us again to support this important cause
Joanna Małaśnicka, Marketing Director at CloudFerro
All who wish to enter the competition need to submit a satellite image that depicts a water area impacted by climate change or human action. The image should come from one of the Earth observation platforms provided and operated by CloudFerro i.e. CREODIAS, WEkEO, CODE-DE or EO-Lab. The images will then be put to an online vote of the general public, and 13 images with the highest number of votes will proceed to the 2nd stage, at which the Jury of Earth Observation experts will choose the best 3.
The authors of the images on the podium will be awarded with attractive prizes, while the 13 winning images will be presented in a CloudFerro calendar for 2023 which will be distributed among leading institutions, companies and organisations in the Earth Observation sector.
Images for the contest should be submitted by October 24, 2022. Detailed terms and conditions are available on the organizer's website: https://cloudferro.com/contest2022.
