Possible contributions of ESA Global Monitoring for Environment and Security initiative for the WFD implementation

Abstract Policy makers are increasingly in need of accurate and timely information in order to meet reporting requirements linked to environmental legislation. This paper explores the extent to which Earth Observation (EO) based services addressed by the joint initiative “Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES)” of ESA and the EC can contribute meet the special reporting requirements of the major European Union (EU) water policy, namely the Water Framework Directive (WFD).