Champion User Engagement Workshop

Collaboration was at the heart of the recent SUP1-RAVE workshop in London. Airbus welcomed SNCF Réseau and Network Rail to dive deep into the progress of the six prototype applications, which are now in their final stages of development.

The primary goal was hands-on exploration. By testing demo products for France and the UK, the Champion Users provided invaluable feedback. They also showcased their own monitoring workflows, thus enabling discussions around how to integrate Earth-Observation data—particularly from the upcoming Copernicus Expansion Missions (CEMs)—directly into the strategic and tactical planning phases.

The feedback received from the Champion Users during this workshop, and in the follow up meetings to come, will be directly incorporated into the project write up activities including the Scientific Papers and Future R&D roadmap to outline the next steps to transition from these current applications to integrated operational products following the launch of the CEMs.

Key application areas explored included:

• Rail-adjacent land cover: Land cover, Tree Height and Tree Species
• Rail-adjacent hazards: Windthrow and Flood mapping

Interested in the results? Demo products will be made available to view on the ESA APEX platform.

Tree height

Combined ROSE-L and CHIME data enables routine, systematic tree height estimates that complement spatial and temporal gaps left by infrequent and expensive LiDAR surveys. These estimates also serve as a "tip and cue" source to guide detailed surveys. Champion Users evaluated this approach using two study areas: the UK’s New Forest and France’s Central-Est region.

Tree species

CHIME-based per-pixel fractional tree species predictions were presented for the French Central-Est region. Fore more detail, see the previous blog post on this application:

https://rave.apex.esa.int/en/news/seeing-forest-new-light-rail-adjacent-tree-species-monitoring-chime

Windthrow

ROSE-L-enabled windthrow monitoring offers new insights into the risks associated with lineside tree-fall, including the likelihood of secondary windthrow events along newly exposed treelines, soil erosion and slope destabilization, and impacts on surface runoff. ROSE-L’s L-band penetration complements Sentinel-1 observations by providing the ability to distinguish subtle canopy variations from windthrow-induced treeline changes. This capability was demonstrated through a study of the damage caused by Storm Darragh in Wales (UK) in 2024.

Flooding

ROSE-L will provide vital complementary data to Sentinel-1 for flood mapping, offering a combined revisit time of just 1–2 days—a major boost for routine and operational monitoring. Much like its application in windthrow monitoring, ROSE-L’s improved resolution will enhance mapping accuracy in complex areas, including potentially in urban areas. Additionally, the deeper penetration of the L-band signal allows for more effective detection of floodwaters beneath lineside vegetation.

To demonstrate these capabilities, Champion Users were shown flood mapping examples using emulated ROSE-L imagery. These included scenarios in York and Cumbria (UK), as well as the Cognac region (France) in 2026. Beyond simple flood extent snapshots, the workshop also demonstrated how routine acquisitions can be used to synthesize maximum flood extent and flood frequency maps.