Blue Marble image of the Earth taken by the crew of Apollo 17 on Dec. 7 1972.
Image Credit: NASA
Last month the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its latest assessment report on how the planet is being impacted by climate change. The Working Group 1 report is the first instalment of the IPPC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), which will be completed in 2022, and concluded that changes are being observed in Earth’s climate in every region and across the whole climate system.
The report highlights the importance of Earth Observation (EO) satellites in monitoring climate change, and how these observations and climate modelling are key inputs to decision-making. The report directly acknowledges the contribution of ESA’s Climate Change Initiative to this work, and Pixalytics works as part of the Ocean Colour Climate Change Initiative supporting the development of long term datasets for marine climate science.
The role of EO in helping to understand and shape the world was emphasised this week with the announcement that the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has launched the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS), to use and share EO data to help the world meet the United Nations Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which fulfils a promise China made to the 75th session of the UN General Assembly last year. Combining observations from satellites, aircraft, drones and ground sensors the centre will share data with United Nations organisations and developing countries to bridge data gaps linked to the SDGs.
Whilst discussing China, the 7th September also saw their latest EO satellite launch when the Gaofen-5 02 hyperspectral satellite was launched on the Long March-4C rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in northern Shanxi Province. This is the second of the Gaofen-5 satellites to be launched, the first was launched in 2018, and will form part of the China High-definition Earth Observation System (CHEOS).
With a forecast mission life of eight years, environmental monitoring applications will be the beneficiary of data from the satellite’s six instruments:
- Advanced Hyperspectral Imager (AHSI) including visible and short wave infrared bands.
- Visual and Infrared Multispectral Sensor (VIMS)
- Greenhouse-gases Monitoring Instrument (GMI)
- Atmospheric Infrared Ultraspectral (AIUS)
- Environment Monitoring Instrument (EMI)
- Directional Polarization Camera (DPC)
Away from China, this has also been a significant week for EO in Chile as the first images were received from the National Satellite System (SNSAT), put into space by Israel’s ISI Imagesat Company. Following an agreement signed last year, Chile has now access to data from the current constellation, and over the next few years will have a ten satellite constellation for exclusive Chilean use. Chile currently has had a single EO satellite in orbit, FaSat-Charlie, which is four years beyond its anticipated life and will be replaced by the new constellation. The first three satellites, Fasat Delta, Fasat Echo 1 and Fasat Echo 2 are anticipated to be launched between 2021 and 2024 by SpaceX, with the entire constellation in orbit by 2025. The data from these satellites will be used for applications in the agricultural sector, risk management, environmental monitoring and mining.
It’s good to see further expansion of EO satellites, missions and data usage to address both national and international priorities.
