The flyer provides a concise and targeted overview of the Horizon Europe EO4EU project, an initiative funded by the European Commission with the ambitious goal of simplifying and promoting the use of Earth Observation (EO) data to enhance forecasting in environmental, governmental, and commercial contexts.
Specifically, the flyer focuses on Use Case 3 (UC3), a practical application of the project dedicated to food security. This use case, led by SISTEMA, MEEO, and the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC), addresses a highly topical issue: the impact of climate change on the industrial cultivation of tomatoes in four Italian regions. To carry out this analysis, the project employs advanced Machine Learning (ML) models, integrating multiple types of data: from Sentinel-2 imagery, used to calculate the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) at both field and provincial levels, to ERA5 climate data and SoilGrids data, which provide a total of 84 indices related to various stages of plant growth. Yield and cultivated area data provided by ISTAT (for Italy) and Spanish sources are also incorporated. The analysis is based on the correlation between climatic indices and yields to identify key factors and thresholds for high productivity, also examining NDVI curves to feed predictive models capable of forecasting yields in different locations and future scenarios.
The use of such a flyer is particularly relevant for events like the Living Planet Symposium (LPS) 2025, which will take place in Vienna, Austria, from 23 to 27 June 2025, that focuses on critical themes ranging from Earth observation to climate action and sustainability.
Given that the EO4EU UC3 project is actively engaged in food security and climate impact analysis through the use of EO data and Machine Learning, its objectives and outcomes align perfectly with the goals of LPS. These include exploring the frontiers of Earth science, demonstrating how EO supports mitigation and adaptation to environmental and social challenges, and integrating digital technologies for green solutions.
The same flyer may also be used in the future at other conferences, workshops, or sector-specific meetings relevant to the themes of Earth Observation, food security, and climate change, to disseminate the results and objectives of the EO4EU project.
