Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather events and natural hazards, posing growing challenges to communities, public authorities, critical infrastructure and businesses across Europe.
Floods, wildfires and volcanic eruptions can have devastating consequences, highlighting the importance of strengthening prevention, preparedness and emergency management capabilities.
This is where UNICORN – Copernicus emergency Applications for Resilience addressing businesses’ needs and policy making comes into play.
Funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe programme, UNICORN aims to transform Earth Observation data into actionable information, developing innovative applications that support better-informed decisions before, during and after natural hazard events.
By leveraging data from the European Union's Copernicus programme, alongside advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, weather forecasting and numerical modelling, the project is developing a suite of services designed to improve:
- Early warning: providing timely information to help anticipate potential hazards.
- Forecasting: improving the understanding and prediction of natural events.
- Hazard monitoring: supporting the observation and assessment of evolving situations.
- Emergency management: helping authorities and relevant stakeholders make informed decisions.
- Resilience: strengthening the capacity of communities, industries and businesses to prepare for and recover from natural disasters.
UNICORN focuses on four real world use cases across different European regions, addressing flood forecasting, wildfire detection and prediction, and volcanic lava flow monitoring.
An important aspect of the project is its user oriented approach: the solutions are developed and validated in collaboration with stakeholders, ensuring that technological innovation responds to actual operational needs.
By bridging the gap between Earth Observation, scientific knowledge and practical applications, UNICORN contributes to a more resilient and prepared European society.
From data to action: building a safer and more resilient future.
Learn more about the project: https://unicorn-project.com/en/