Example impression of Sentinel-2. Image courtesy of ESA. Copyright ESA/ATG medialab.
A briefing paper for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, titled Space-based Earth Observations For Climate Security by Bamber & Bates et al was published by the COP26 Universities Network earlier this month.
COP26 is being hosted by the UK and is due to take place in Glasgow this November, having been postponed from last year. The briefing paper was led by the University of Bristol with contributions from scientists across the country highlighting the critical role that Earth Observation (EO) satellites play in monitoring the impacts of climate change on the planet, together with the opportunities and challenges ahead. There are three key areas the paper describes:
Role of EO in COP26 & Climate Change
EO satellite data is the principal source of global timely data on the environmental health of the planet and is vital to supporting climate policy decisions and assessing progress towards the aims of both the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals. Critically, it is also important in checking and verifying national actions and whether what countries declared they would do are being fulfilled.
The paper describes two examples of EO data supporting decision making: Greenhouse Gas emissions monitoring, verification and global position; and use of EO to support countries suffering from weather extremes and environmental hazards such as flooding, oil spill hazards, etc.
Use of EO Data For Quantifying Climate Change
EO data is vital for monitoring the causes and effects of climate change. Various datasets covering changes on the land, under the ocean and in the atmosphere allow scientists to understand how the world is altering. Coupling these measurements with mathematical modelling allows the opportunity to predict future rates and patterns of change, to give policymakers the chance to make appropriate decisions. The three exemplar examples they describe in detail are:
- The Arctic as an early warning system
- Coastal Zones
- Global Plant Biomass
Policy Implications
Whilst EO data has a huge number of benefits to offer, there are still technical and societal challenges to address including:
- Investing in long term integrated observing systems that pull together EO stakeholders with experts in artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data.
- Capacity and capability building in EO technology, methodology and skills, together with training in EO and climate science.
- International co-operation to ensure that EO data usage is maximised, tailored to stakeholders needs and resources are free-to-access. An interesting example of this was the provisional release of the Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 (HLS) dataset announced last week. NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the European Space Agency have worked together to combine data from the two satellites as if it is one single dataset. They have created global land surface products at a 30 m spatial resolution that are refreshed every two to three days. This improves temporal resolution without the need to send more satellites into space, and offers tantalising opportunities ahead for those of us who work with this data – could global 30 m coverage every two to three days be available soon?.
- Increasing trans-national funding for EO. Whilst there are good examples of trans-national funding of EO such as the European Space Agency or where space agencies have jointly launched satellites, there is still a lot of opportunity for improved international co-operation and funding to deliver the full benefits of EO.
This section of the paper highlights the exemplar approach of the UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme (IPP), which won the 2020 GEO Sustainable Development Goals Award, as a way of addressing some of these challenges. Given such a profile it is unfortunate the UK Government has decided to cut this programme IPP massively this year, with many planned projects abandoned and existing projects losing the majority of their funding.
However, in better news for the UK space industry, the potential for the UK to become a launch site to space took a step closer on Monday, when the regulations allowing satellites and rockets to launch from UK soil for the first time were laid before Parliament. The regulations, developed with the UK Space Agency and the Civil Aviation Authority, means that planned spaceports could send their first vehicles into space from next year.
Two areas leading the development are the Sutherland Space Centre in Scotland which is building a vertical rocket launch facility. Whereas down in the south-west, Spaceport Cornwall, based at Newquay, is developing a horizontal launch facility. These, and other sites, are will offer satellite launches, space tourism flights, and high altitude balloons; together with the aim of providing a base for new emerging space technology. It is also hoped that having these sites within the UK will help inspire the next generation of space scientists by generating interest and excitement to inspire children in a similar way that Tom Peake did with his trip to the International Space Station!
