30 de September de 2020
‘RawMatCop Academy, Copernicus for RawMaterials’ course will be held online on 13, 15, 20, 22 of October from 9.30 till 13.00 (CET). Application for this course ends on October 2. This course is a joint initiative of EIT RawMaterials and Copernicus and is endorsed by the European Federation of Geologists.
“The aim of this course is the same as previous editions, but it has been necessary to convert it to an online edition due to the Coronavirus outbreak”, said Ignacio Marzán, Geociences Barcelona – CSIC (GEO3BCN-CSIC) researcher and also organizer and trainer of the course. The course offers a hands-on approach and shows how to unlock the power of Copernicus for companies, organisations and research institutions along the entire life cycle of raw materials.
In this sense, Marzan points out that de main difference is that, this year, participants won’t have access to remote services, so practical exercise should be simplified and adapted to work on personal computers.
According to the GEO3BCN-CSIC researcher, the main objective of RawMapCop is to promote the use of Copernicus data in raw materials. In particular, it is especially useful for researchers who are not remote sensing experts. “The techniques taught in this course are applicable to any sector interested in the study of the Earth’s surface and its transformation, including its vegetation cover and water masses”, said Marzán.
During the course, participants will have the opportunity to work directly with Copernicus’ Sentinel satellite data and open source software to learn how it can be used for Securing the primary and secondary mineral and material resources needed to transition to a sustainable and circular economy and Monitoring environmental impact and increasing safety.
The course topics are the following:
- ‘Introduction to Copernicus and Earth Observation data’
- ‘Basics of imaging technology, optical and active remote sensing in raw materials’
- ‘Optimised ways to monitor environmental impact and increase safety’
- ‘Copernicus’ tools to tackle the industrial and societal challenges of raw materials in Europe’
Case studies and exercises will be focused on ‘Mineral exploration and mapping of deposits’, ‘Monitoring of mining activities including waste management’, ‘Environmental impact monitoring’, and ‘Water detection’.
Marzán considers that this course is important because it shows the “endless opportunities” offered by the Copernicus Sentinel satellite constellations (1 and 2) for all sectors devoted to the study Earth’s surface. “Copernicus provides free access to an unprecedented volume of high-quality data, with a high revisit time”, said Marzán.
The course was initially scheduled for last June, but it was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.