{"id":41083,"date":"2021-08-09T11:12:10","date_gmt":"2021-08-09T15:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/?post_type=emagazine&p=41083"},"modified":"2023-07-13T04:03:46","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T08:03:46","slug":"climate-change-satellite-data","status":"publish","type":"emagazine","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/secure-futures-magazine\/climate-change-satellite-data\/41083\/","title":{"rendered":"How satellites are becoming a crucial weapon against climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"

This decade is critical in the fight against climate change. We\u2019re starting to experience its repercussions in our daily lives, and many governments now understand scientists\u2019 projections mean they must enact more stringent sustainability measures.<\/p>\n

With decarbonization policy, green energy overhauls and pollution taxes agreed as the best solution<\/a>, government and industry must develop affordable, workable sustainability technologies.<\/p>\n

While energy, conservation and transport technologies get much airtime, we rarely discuss the role space technology like satellites can play in avoiding climate catastrophe.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

An eye on the Arctic<\/h2>\n

European Space Agency (ESA)\u2019s Mark Drinkwater explains, \u201cThroughout the satellite era, polar scientists pointed to the Arctic as a harbinger of more widespread global impacts of climate change. As the events of 2020 make their marks in the climate record, it\u2019s evident a \u2018green\u2019 low-carbon Europe alone is insufficient to combat the effects of climate change<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our acute understanding of the scale of the problem we face is thanks in part to climate-monitoring satellites. While weather satellites have been in our skies since the Space Race days, observation platforms for environmental monitoring achieved lift-off in the 2000s. These satellites track disasters like wildfires, hurricanes and oil spills, and longer-term shifts in temperature, loss of polar ice and changes in the jet streams<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t\t\t

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ESA\u2019s Copernicus Program<\/a> delivers expansive climate monitoring services using their Sentinel satellites. Copernicus recently reported July 2020 as the third warmest July on record<\/a> and several heatwaves and wildfires in the Arctic Circle.<\/p>\n

Multiplying like wildfire<\/h2>\n

Arctic permafrost contains some of the most carbon-rich soils of any environment, safely frozen for centuries. As it thaws, it releases stores of CO2 and particles, causing an exponential warming cycle, particularly when subjected to wildfires \u2013 common in the Arctic as they are elsewhere<\/a>. Multiplier events like these have scientists worried that politicians\u2019 optimistic predictions are far-fetched.<\/p>\n

The next wave of Sentinel systems is gearing up as Copernicus 2.0 gains momentum<\/a>. One candidate mission is the Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer (CIMR) platform<\/a>, a microwave radiometer giving all-weather, high-resolution estimation of ocean and sea-ice features like temperature and salinity. Another is the CRISTAL mission<\/a>, measuring sea ice thickness and snow depth with a dual-frequency radar altimeter and microwave radiometer.<\/p>\n

ESA\u2019s Director for Earth Observation, Josef Aschbacher, explains, \u201cThese missions will provide new year-round monitoring throughout the Arctic and CO2 emissions data to support the European Green Deal<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early warning of disasters could save lives<\/h2>\n

The sharp end of environmentally turbulent times is the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In April 2021, ESA awarded a three-year contract to develop a natural disaster early warning system<\/a> to a consortium including a maritime satellite communications provider, an independent research group and a meteorological tech developer.<\/p>\n

Aiming to help governments with emergency response, it will use a reliable, mobile satellite network<\/a> and earth-based internet of things (IoT) infrastructure to alert at-risk populations to danger. \u201cWe aim to demonstrate using a secure satellite communication\u2011IoT solution to help civil government reduce risks from geohazards like avalanches, debris flow and floods<\/a>,\u201d said senior researcher Ivan Depina.<\/p>\n

The project will be trialed in Tr\u00f8ndelag, Norway, a region whose geology and climate make it especially susceptible to natural disasters like landslide and flood.<\/p>\n

Sounding the alarm on commodity-driven deforestation<\/h2>\n

Constant monitoring at satellite scale could prove a powerful defense for vital natural ecosystems like forests and peatland<\/a>, under threat from irresponsible agriculture, natural disasters and climate change impacts.<\/p>\n

One satellite sustainability project making a stir in this arena is Ecometrica<\/a>\u2018s Forests 2020 project<\/a>, funded by the UK Space Agency\u2019s International Partnerships Programme<\/a> (IPP.) The satellite sustainability reporting service worked with the Ghana Forestry Commission and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to map land use across Ghana and segregate cocoa agriculture from natural forests.<\/p>\n

The Ecometrica platform, the new map and other satellite-based data like deforestation alerts mean commodity trading companies can have their environmental impact more accurately assessed to help stamp out deforestation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The map is the latest in a series of initiatives to enhance sustainability for Ghana\u2019s agricultural commodities, such as cocoa. It aims to end deforestation while promoting forest restoration.<\/p>\n

Paula McGregor, Space Program Manager, Ecometrica<\/p><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n

Ecometrica also works on soy, oil palm and tobacco projects, producing data commodity trading companies can use to regulate their activities and inform environmental protection investment.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo make an impact, satellite-derived insights must be delivered in ways decision-makers in government and the private sector understand. Forests 2020 made clear governments and companies can use this kind of information to understand their impacts and climate risks, and take action,\u201d says Ecometrica\u2019s McGregor. \u201cSatellite-based monitoring is an affordable way to monitor ecosystems at scale, guiding priority interventions, investment needed to protect threatened ecosystems and future risks to these regions from climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASA leading the charge<\/h2>\n