Copernicus polar roadmap for service evolution : Copernicus polar task force

The EU's increasing interest in monitoring the polar regions, as highlighted in the 2021 updated EU Arctic policy, led the European Commission to set up a Polar Task Force composed of external experts, chaired by Commission officers, to focus on the evolution of the Copernicus Services in the polar domain. Their work takes into account the major progress made in space observation capabilities and the in-depth knowhow that is the result of providing operational services to polar users for more than a decade. To this end, a questionnaire was widely circulated to user communities in autumn 2023, both in Europe and Canada, an important Arctic partner. Some 61 comprehensive responses from 17 countries were received, mostly from a mix of governmental operational agencies and the academic and research sector. From these survey responses and the contributions of external experts, invaluable information was obtained, highlighting the current status of polar services, as well as gaps and weaknesses.