ki 
T 
Sal 
MELET. A..LL. 
N, D.Y. 
Mercator Ocean International 
ABSTRACT 
The Copernicus Marine Service is continuously evolving to 
better serve user and policy needs. To stay a world leading 
service and remain at the state-of-the-art, scientific and 
technical developments are required across different time 
scales. This paper presents the Copernicus Marine Service 
Evolution R&D programme principles and strategy, the 
associated roadmap and main achievements during the 
first implementation phase of Copernicus. 
1. INTRODUCTIOF 
After six years of operations, the Copernicus Marine Service 
ıs internationally recognized as one of the most advanced 
service capacities in ocean monitoring and forecasting, and 
has convinced more than thirty thousand expert-services 
and users worldwide (Le Traon et al., this issue). 
A strength of the Copernicus Marine Service is its dynamic 
nature. Its offer is continuously evolving to ensure that 
distributed products remain state-of-the-art and meet a 
wider range of existing and emerging user and policy needs 
(URD 2019 and MSP 2019). Over 2015-2020, a total of 85 
new products, including the distribution of new requested 
parameters such as wind waves, iceberg density or 
micronekton and ocean acidity were added to the Copernicus 
Marine Service data catalogue. 
This article focuses on the R&D aspects of the ‘Service 
Evolution’ of the Copernicus Marine Service. The main objective 
of the Service Evolution R&D programme is to improve Its 
scientific content. In that regard, leading-edge R&D activities 
are required to consolidate scientific tools and methods used 
in production centres for delivering the best possible data on 
the ocean state. Better data to support new develooments to 
consolidate and to expand the catalogue (e.g., addition of new 
products) and to prepare the next generation of operationa 
systems. R&D Service Evolution activities therefore 
correspond to a line of activity complementing the main 
operational activities. Associated research developments and 
activities are then transferred into operations in Copernicus 
Marine Service production centres. 
2. SERVICE EVOLUTION PRINCIPLES 
AND STRATEGY 
2.1 Principles and Drivers 
Three main principles are guiding the Copernicus Marine 
Service Evolution (SE). First, service evolutions are driven 
by user and policy needs (e.g., SWD 2019, URD 2019). 
Users from public and private marine-related sectors 
are explicitly and transparently involved in the service's 
delivery definition and its required evolutions (Figure 1). 
The collection of user feedback and needs is described ir 
Delamarche et al., this issue. In this bottom-up approach, 
user and policy needs are translated into requirements 
zorresponding to achievable technical or scientific 
>bjectives for the Copernicus Marine Service. 
Secondly, this user and policy push for service evolution 
is complemented by a science pull (Figure 1). In this top- 
down approach, scientific and technological advances 
-elevant for the Copernicus Marine Service are analysed 
and R&D objectives are developed (see Section 2.2) so that 
the Service remains at the state-of-the-art. 
‚he third principle guiding the Service evolution deals with 
the delineation with downstream activities. The Copernicus 
Marine is a core service focusing on activities that are 
dest performed at pan-European scale, supporting expert 
value-addinag downstream services