The Earth Observation Exploitation Platform Common Architecture (EOEPCA) initiative, funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), is helping define a shared architecture for EO platforms across Europe. It provides modular software components, known as building blocks, to enhance interoperability, scalability, and standardisation in cloud-based EO processing.
With the new EOEPCA+ phase, a consortium of leading European organisations is advancing these components to support operational readiness and federation between platforms. The project is coordinated by Terradue, with partners including VITO, EURAC Research, GeoLabs, Y22, and contributors from the open-source EO community.
Explore the architecture at eoepca.org
Evolving the Architecture: EOEPCA+
The current phase of the project focuses on enhancing and extending core building blocks:
- Terradue leads both the Application Hub and the Processing Building Block
- VITO develops the Federated Orchestrator
- EURAC guides the Datacube Access components
- Y22 designs the Notification & Automation capabilities
- GeoLabs and Matthias Mohr contribute to open standards implementation (e.g., STAC, openEO, OGC APIs)
This joint effort reflects a strategic alignment of technical approaches aimed at creating a flexible, federated system for Earth Observation data exploitation.
The Processing Building Block: Curated Input for Reliable Execution
One of the critical challenges in platform interoperability is ensuring that EO processing applications can reliably access the right data, in the right format, at the right time. The Processing Building Block (BB), led by Terradue, addresses this challenge.
It supports the hosted execution of user-defined processing workflows whether they are packaged as OGC Application Packages or defined through openEO Process Graphs. The BB focuses on providing:
- A generic data curation layer, enabling consistent preparation of input data
- A common execution framework for hosted EO workflows across platforms
- Integration of curated data directly into processing jobs, without manual handling
This eliminates the need for each platform to develop its own data integration logic, making applications more portable and easier to maintain.
The Application Hub: User Access to Algorithms and Services
In parallel, Terradue is also leading the Application Hub, a user-facing building block that connects end users with hosted algorithms, data discovery services, and processing tools. It supports:
- Interactive development environments
- Algorithm registration and discovery
- Job submission interfaces for both simple and advanced users
Together, the Application Hub and Processing BB provide a coherent user experience from discovering data and selecting an algorithm, to running a job and retrieving results.
Enabling Federation and Interoperability
EOEPCA+ is designed for multi-platform integration. It supports:
- Multiple execution backends (Kubernetes, HPC, Argo, Dask)
- Federated orchestration, enabling shared workflows between platforms
- Open APIs and standards for data access and job execution
The goal is to make EO services more connected, discoverable, and reusable across European infrastructures including national platforms, mission-specific environments, and future initiatives like Destination Earth (DestinE).
FAIR and Open Science by Design
EOEPCA promotes adoption of the FAIR principles ensuring that Earth Observation data and tools are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. All components are being released as open-source, encouraging reuse and contribution across the wider EO community.
By building on standards like OGC APIs, CWL, STAC, and openEO, the architecture offers a future-proof foundation for both innovation and operational deployment.
A Cohesive Platform Ecosystem
EOEPCA is helping establish a shared foundation for EO exploitation platforms reducing duplication of effort, enabling portability of algorithms and workflows, and supporting a collaborative ecosystem for public and commercial users.
To explore the project and follow its technical development, visit:
https://eoepca.org
For more on Terradue’s work on EO infrastructure and data exploitation services, visit:
https://www.terradue.com
EOEPCA+ is developed under ESA funding by a consortium led by Terradue, with VITO, EURAC, Y22, GeoLabs, and contributors from the open-source EO community.