Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) evolution: new and innovative processing and methods for future Sentinels and other satellites for reanalyses

The Horizon Europe grant opportunity focuses on enhancing the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) through innovative data processing methods for satellite-based climate reanalyses. This call is under the topic HORIZON-CL4-2025-02-SPACE-41 and aims to fund projects that contribute to improving observational input for Earth-system reanalysis datasets and enhancing data assimilation methods. Eligible applicants include research institutes, universities, industry partners (including SMEs), and public entities such as space agencies and meteorological organizations, with a strong encouragement for international collaboration.

The funding type is a lump sum grant as part of the HORIZON-RIA (Research and Innovation Actions) scheme, with a total budget of €10 million allocated for a single expected grant. The geographic eligibility primarily includes EU member states and Horizon Europe-associated countries, while also allowing participation from non-EU partners depending on specific provisions.

The project stage emphasizes research and development focused on improved climate monitoring through advanced methods, including AI/ML, to enhance data utilization in climate models. The application process involves a single-stage open call, with a submission deadline of September 25, 2025.

This grant aims to foster research and innovation that will advance climate intelligence and the operationalization of extreme event attribution. Success rates are likely low due to the competitive nature of Horizon Europe grants, with co-funding not required and a preference for projects that enhance the integration of satellite data into climate analytics. Overall, the aim is to strengthen Europe’s capabilities in climate science and monitoring through advanced research and technological methods.

The EU Funding and Tenders Portal presents a Horizon Europe (HORIZON) call, SPACE-HADEA (HORIZON-CL4-2025-02), focusing on the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) evolution through new and innovative processing and methods for future Sentinels and other satellites for reanalyses, specifically under topic HORIZON-CL4-2025-02-SPACE-41. This call seeks to fund projects that will contribute to innovative methods for preparing observational input for Earth-system reanalysis datasets, enhanced data assimilation methods, comprehensive climate records, and expanded reanalyses products. The type of action is HORIZON-RIA (Research and Innovation Actions) with a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] MGA (Model Grant Agreement). The call is currently open for submission with a single-stage deadline. The opening date was 22 May 2025, and the deadline for submission is 25 September 2025 at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcomes of the projects funded under this call include: Innovative methods to prepare and pre-process observational input for Earth-system reanalysis datasets, including the Copernicus Sentinel missions, which will lead to an increase in the use of observations for Earth-system reanalysis; Enhanced sparse data assimilation and initialisation methods of climate sub-component (e.g., atmosphere, ocean, land, hydrology) in Copernicus products; Comprehensive and better information about the climate records to be extracted from the available observations improving our overall monitoring of the climate and climate change; Expanded range of reanalyses products towards centennial reanalyses, and enhanced climate counterfactuals data sets to support data-driven predictions and the ongoing operationalisation of extreme event attribution.

The scope of the call encompasses several research and innovation areas: Improving the ability of Copernicus’ and other models to assimilate new and other satellite observations (e.g. the Copernicus Sentinel Expansion and Next Generation missions, contributing missions, meteorological satellites, research satellites) that are sensitive to surface parameters and fluxes, including research on information content of early satellite data; Exploiting innovative methods (including AI/ML) for data rescue for in situ and remote sensing observations, focusing on past and changing observing methods, environmental factors, error analysis, quality control, and bias adjustment of the historical observation record to improve physically consistent analyses of the atmosphere, ocean, land, and cryosphere towards centennial timescales; Improving the use of Sentinel and other data in all Copernicus reanalyses and their use across different services, requiring specific coordinated developments in terms of observation operators and observational error characterization; Exploring innovative methods (e.g. AI/ML) to accelerate the production and updates of reanalyses, capture reanalyses uncertainties efficiently, and reduce overall computing energy/carbon footprint.

The call emphasizes the importance of C3S reanalyses in service data requests and their exploitation in climate predictions, historical projections, climate intelligence, application development, and AI/ML weather forecasts. It also highlights the need for extending reanalyses back to the early 1900s through data rescue and reprocessing of EO data, as well as the development of climate counterfactual datasets for extreme event attribution.

The call encourages bringing together European expertise, tight collaboration with space agencies, National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), and international cooperation. It also encourages synergies with Destination Earth and the transfer of research results to operations, with appropriate involvement of Entrusted Entities of the Copernicus services. Software developed should be open licensed. The integration of the gender dimension in research and innovation content should be addressed if relevant.

The general conditions for this call include: Admissibility conditions related to proposal page limits and layout as described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and Part B of the Application Form; Eligibility of countries as described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes, with specific provisions for non-EU/non-Associated Countries outlined in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide; Other eligibility conditions, such as the use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS for projects using satellite data, and the potential participation of the Joint Research Centre (JRC); Financial and operational capacity and exclusion criteria as described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes; Evaluation and award criteria, scoring, and thresholds as described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes, noting that the granting authority can fund a maximum of one project; Submission and evaluation processes as described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual; Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement as described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes; Legal and financial set-up of the grants, with eligible costs taking the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021, and other aspects described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes and the specific topic of the Work Programme.

The application and evaluation forms, as well as the model grant agreement (MGA), are available in the Submission System. Additional documents include the HE Main Work Programme 2025, HE Programme Guide, HE Framework Programme 2021/695, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, and various guidance documents related to legal entity validation, financial capacity assessment, and the Funding & Tenders Portal.

The budget overview indicates that the topic HORIZON-CL4-2025-02-SPACE-41 has a budget of EUR 10,000,000 for the year 2025, and it is expected that around one grant will be awarded.

There are 15 partner search announcements available for this topic.

In summary, this Horizon Europe call aims to advance the Copernicus Climate Change Service by funding research and innovation projects that improve the processing, analysis, and utilization of satellite and in-situ data for climate reanalysis. It seeks to enhance climate monitoring, prediction, and attribution of extreme events through international collaboration and the exploitation of new technologies like AI/ML, with a focus on open licensing and operational readiness. The call is structured as a single-stage submission with a deadline of September 25, 2025, and offers a lump sum grant to the selected project.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated but can be inferred to include a range of entities involved in research and innovation, such as universities, research institutes, space agencies, the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), and potentially SMEs and other organizations with relevant expertise. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as a member of the consortium. The Enterprise Europe Network is mentioned for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs.

Funding Type: The funding type is primarily a grant, specifically a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant, under the HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA) and HORIZON Innovation Actions (HORIZON-IA) and HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA).

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity appears to favor a consortium approach, as it emphasizes bringing together European expertise and encourages international cooperation. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as member of the consortium selected for funding. Partner search tools are available.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The primary geographic eligibility focuses on European entities, but the opportunity also mentions the possibility of participation from non-EU/non-Associated Countries, with specific provisions for funding depending on the country. International cooperation is strongly encouraged.

Target Sector: The target sector is space, with a focus on climate change, Earth observation, and the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). Specific areas include: Earth-system reanalysis datasets, Copernicus Sentinel missions, climate sub-component (e.g., atmosphere, ocean, land, hydrology), climate records, centennial reanalyses, and climate counterfactuals data sets. The topic also involves AI/ML, data rescue, remote sensing, and downstream applications.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned, but the opportunity refers to European expertise and encourages international cooperation. It also mentions non-EU/non-Associated Countries. Mentions EU and EEA.

Project Stage: The project stage spans from research and development to innovation and demonstration. It includes improving models, exploiting innovative methods, enhancing data use, and exploring new techniques. The transfer of research results to operations is also emphasized.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic and type of action (CSA, RIA, IA):
HORIZON-CSA: around €1,000,000
HORIZON-RIA: ranging from €500,000 to €17,500,000
HORIZON-IA: ranging from €5,000,000 to €11,000,000
Specific ranges are provided for each topic.

Application Type: The application type is an open call with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant.

Application Stages: The application process involves a single stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants is provided for each topic, allowing for an estimation of the competition level.

Co-funding Requirement: Co-funding requirements are not explicitly mentioned.

This opportunity is a call for proposals under the Horizon Europe Programme, specifically targeting the evolution of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). It seeks to fund research and innovation projects focused on enhancing Earth-system reanalysis datasets, improving climate monitoring, and supporting data-driven predictions. The call encourages the use of innovative methods, including AI/ML, and promotes international cooperation. The projects should contribute to improving the ability of models to assimilate satellite observations, exploiting early satellite data, and accelerating the production of reanalyses. The funding is provided as a lump sum grant, and the application process involves a single-stage submission. The call is open to a wide range of entities, including universities, research institutes, space agencies, and SMEs, with a focus on European expertise but also allowing for participation from non-EU/non-Associated Countries. The overall goal is to advance climate monitoring and prediction capabilities through improved data processing, analysis, and modeling techniques, ultimately supporting better climate intelligence and the operationalization of extreme event attribution.