Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS)

The Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) is the emergency-management component of the European Union's Copernicus Earth observation programme. It provides actors involved in natural disasters, man-made emergencies and humanitarian crises with timely, accurate geospatial information derived from satellite remote sensing (notably the Sentinel constellation and contributing missions), combined with in-situ and open data. CEMS is implemented under the European Commission, with the Joint Research Centre (JRC) as the entrusted entity and ECMWF operating the hydrological forecast computational centre. The Mapping component works in two modes: Rapid Mapping delivers maps during or immediately after an event, while Risk & Recovery Mapping supports preparedness and recovery analysis. The Early Warning and Monitoring component bundles the European Flood Awareness System (EFAS), the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) and the European Drought Observatory (EDO), with GloFAS, GWIS and GDO extending these globally. Products are free and openly accessible through dedicated web portals and data access points, serving civil protection authorities, humanitarian agencies and the public.

• Rapid Mapping: On-demand crisis maps produced within hours of an emergency from satellite imagery.
• Risk & Recovery Mapping: Geospatial analysis supporting disaster preparedness and post-event recovery.
• Flood early warning: EFAS (Europe) and GloFAS (global) probabilistic flood forecasts.
• Wildfire monitoring: EFFIS and GWIS active-fire detection, burnt-area mapping and fire danger forecasts.
• Drought monitoring: EDO and GDO indicators of drought onset, severity and impact.
• Open data delivery: Free map products, vector/raster layers and forecasts via web portals and download services.