The need to support the work of the United Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) led to the definition of the Essential Climate Variables (ECV). All ECVs are designed to be technically and economically feasible for systematic observation. For these variables, international exchange is needed for both present and historical observations. In early 2013, there were 54 ECVs.

The contribution of SYN products to ECV (terrestrial), land cover [1] is ensured by SYN S1 and SYN S10 products.

[1] GCOS Essential Climate Variables (ECV) Data Access Matrix