Estonian University of Life Sciences to Lead International Expert Group on Inland Waters

According to Professor of Hydrobiology Alo Laas at the Estonian University of Life Sciences, coordinating the expert group is both a significant responsibility and an important opportunity for the university to contribute to the European Union.

"Our primary task is to bring together global expertise and experience to help shape the future development of the Copernicus inland water monitoring programme," said Laas.

Copernicus is the European Union's Earth observation programme, providing information services based on satellite observations and in situ data to monitor environmental change.

"The expert group brings together specialists from several countries to evaluate the current Copernicus inland water services, identify users' needs, and propose new services and solutions. These recommendations will help guide the future development of the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service while supporting European water policy and environmental decision-making," Laas explained.

The expert group is chaired by Carmen Cillero, researcher at the Estonian University of Life Sciences. The core expert team also includes Professor Tiit Kutser (University of Tartu, Estonia), Professor Evangelos Spyrakos (University of Stirling, United Kingdom), Rafael Marcé (Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes, Spanish National Research Council, CEAB-CSIC, Spain), Jenni Attila (Finnish Environment Institute, SYKE, Finland), and Professor Martina Flörke (Ruhr University Bochum, Germany). The group is further supported by two alternate members: Claudia Giardino (Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment, National Research Council of Italy, CNR-IREA) and Petra Philipsson (Brockmann Geomatics Sweden AB, Sweden).

At the Estonian University of Life Sciences, Alo Laas is responsible for coordinating the group's work, organising joint meetings, and liaising with the European Environment Agency. During the first year, the expert group will produce three reports describing users' needs for inland water monitoring, assessing the shortcomings of existing services, and recommending priorities for future service development.

"Our role in leading this expert group builds on our previous experience. Together with Carmen Cillero and Tiit Kutser, we recently coordinated the EU Horizon project Water-ForCElink opens in new page, which produced a strategic roadmap for the future development of Copernicus water monitoring services. That project outlined recommendations for advancing Europe's satellite-based water monitoring, and we now have the opportunity to help turn those recommendations into practice," said Laas.

He added that, under EU regulations, the European Environment Agency cannot itself interpret and implement the outcomes of projects of this kind. Instead, it must procure these services through an open call and appoint an independent expert group.

The European Environment Agency (EEA) is an agency of the European Union that provides independent environmental information to support evidence-based policymaking across Europe.

Read the European Environment Agency's announcement link opens in new pageon the establishment of the expert group.

Illustration: Satellite image of Lake Balaton showing variations in water turbidity between 21 February and 1 March 2026. Photo: European Environment Agency.