The fourth annual Copernicus Masters competition is just around the corner. Ideas for services, business concepts and applications based on satellite Earth observation data can be submitted starting on 15 April.

Since 2011, the competition awards prizes to innovative solutions for business and society based on Earth observation data. With a prize pool of over €300 000 in cash prizes, technical support, data packages and business incubation, it aims to foster product development and entrepreneurship.

Participants can choose from a total of eight Challenges covering topics such as environmental monitoring, transportation logistics, agriculture and forestry, civil security, cloud computing and mobile services, as well as the innovative use of high-resolution satellite imagery and radar data.

Earth observation with radar data recently entered a new era with the 3 April launch of Sentinel-1A – the first in the Copernicus programme’s two-satellite ‘radar vision mission’.

The winner of each competition Challenge will be selected by a jury of research and industry experts. Along with the prizes in the challenge, the overall winner – the Copernicus Master 2014 – will receive €20 000 and a satellite data package worth an additional €60 000.

Last year was the competition’s most successful so far, receiving 144 submissions from 23 European countries. The winners from the past three years are turning their business ideas into reality with the help of their Challenge partners, while some have already transformed their projects into market-ready products.

Submissions for all challenges will be accepted from 15 April to 13 July and, for the first time, the competition is open on a worldwide scale.