Earth Observation (EO) is defined as the process of acquiring observations of the Earth’s surface and atmosphere via sensors mounted on satellites, aircrafts, drones or at the surface, resulting in data in the form of digital imagery[1]. For the last several decades, EO has been an essential tool for monitoring the planet, its environment, the human activities on the planet and their impacts. For instance, EO has been fundamental to monitoring climate change over the past few decades, as satellites provide a clear, uniform and continuous picture of changes across the entire planet. 

 

The vast amount of data collected through EO is processed and converted into actionable information for the end-users spanning across several industries. Two supporting technologies enable this intermediate step of processing EO data: artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing. Advancements in cloud computing over the past few years have enabled the efficient storage and processing of digital data, thereby facilitating the conversion of EO data into useful analytics. Artificial intelligence, which is the field of computer science dealing with making intelligent computer programs, has allowed the petabytes of data collected from satellites on a daily basis to be combined effectively allowing the users to derive the needed insights. Together, the convergence of AI and cloud computing have enabled the rapid growth of the EO market, leading to the development of several applications of EO.

The Copernicus Programme

One of the largest EO programmes in the world is the Copernicus programme from the European Commission, with an objective to monitor and forecast the state of the environment on land, sea and in the atmosphere, in order to support climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, the efficient management of emergency situations and the improvement of the security of every citizen. Served by the dedicated Copernicus Sentinel satellites, the data collected is then integrated with non-satellite sources to provide reliable and up-to-date information about six thematic areas: land, marine, atmosphere, climate change, emergency management and security. 

 

Data from the Copernicus programme has applications for both the public and private sectors across numerous market segments. Some non-exhaustive applications of EO data from the Copernicus programme[2] are presented below, from three different segments:

 

●     Energy and Natural Resources: Solar and wind energy production forecasting, renewable energy site selection and monitoring of power plants, offshore platforms and pipelines.

●     Environmental Monitoring: Deforestation monitoring, weather forecasting, flood alerts, emissions reporting, wildfire tracking,disaster management, air and water quality monitoring, sea ice and sea level rise.

●     Security and Defense: Border surveillance, critical infrastructure monitoring, maritime surveillance and remote area monitoring.

The Use of Earth Observation for Climate Services

As the climate crisis continues to evolve with the ongoing global warming, governments and businesses around the world are focusing on climate adaptation and climate mitigation initiatives. Climate adaptation initiatives focus on taking action to prepare for and adjust to both the current effects of climate change as well as the future impacts, while climate mitigation initiatives focus on reducing or preventing emissions of greenhouse gases in order to prevent future climate impacts.

 

EO data is expected to play a crucial role in the development of climate services, both focusing on adaptation and mitigation. Satellites, which have been monitoring the Earth continuously and helping our understanding of climate change, provide vital information regarding the state and evolution of the environment as well as regarding the human activities on the planet[1]. As a result, climate services applicable to several industries are expected to integrate EO data into their products in order to take into account the environmental factors and changes over time. 

 

Several emerging climate services have already started to integrate EO data into their development. From providing extreme weather alerts for better disaster preparedness to both governments and businesses to delivering crop-level insights to farmers enabling water savings and improving overall yields, there are a number of climate services currently available in the market across a number of industries.

 

The PROTECT project will enable public authorities to use state-of-the-art public procurement approaches in order to identify climate services based on EO that best fit the specific and systemic needs of the public demand. The focus is on five application domains namely: Energy & Utilities, Sustainable Urban Communities, Agriculture, Forestry and other Land use, Marine and Coastal Environments and Civil Security and Protection[2].

 

[1] https://climate.esa.int/en/evidence/role-eo-understanding-climate-change/
[2] http://www.protect-pcp.eu/priority-domains/

[1] https://business.esa.int/newcomers-earth-observation-guide
[2] Application domains and use cases | Copernicus