![]() ![]() The increased capabilities of these new EO satellites that are now coming into service means that it is not just possible to detect large climate and weather trends, such as ice coverage in the polar regions for space, but also now drill down to monitor the heat output of individual buildings or monitor methane leaks. SatelliteVu’s thermal space imagery can monitor the energy output of individual buildings. Meanwhile, satellite operator, Planet, with its constellation of mini-sats, has already opened up access to its 5m resolution imagery dataset of forests to NGO and climate researchers. Stephen Ward, from Australia’s Symbios, told delegates there is an “absolute revolution” in EO satellites, with more that 50 companies announcing plans for over 1,800 EO sats – the vast majority being under 50kg. This view was echoed by Dr Anna Hogg, Associate Professor, University of Leeds and Chair of the Earth Observation Working Group, Space Academic Network, who said that satellite EO had “‘revolutionised our understanding” of the polar regions, with ESA’s Sentinel-1 SAR satellite, launched in 2014 collecting the same amount of ice data in Antarctica across 14 months that previous sats in the 1990s took a whole decade to acquire.īut as well as large governmental and national EO satellites, such as ESA’s BIOMASS, Copernicus and the like, the conference heard how this effort is now being joined by commercial EO satellites and space companies – with a large number of smaller and cheaper satellites set to be launched. He said that it was a massive change from even only 10-15 years ago when satellite EO data was seen as a ‘potential’ advance. Professor John Remedios, Director, National Centre for Earth Observation, told the conference that today “is the dawning of the space age for climate data”. Key to measuring the speed of global climate change, and assessing progress in slowing the rise in global temperatures are Earth observation (EO) satellites which are now opening up new horizons in the fidelity, precision and sheer scope of climate data recorded. Sentinel-1 has led to a revolution in understanding polar regions. For those who remain unconvinced, Maslin said that ‘doing nothing’ about climate change could cost 20% of the world’s GDP by 2050, compared to spending 1% now to prevent it. However, despite this consensus, there is no time to lose, according to Professor Mark Maslin, University College London in his opening keynote speech, who pointed out that the world needs to reduce emissions by 45% within ten years in order to meet the goals set out from last year’s COP26 climate summit. Indeed, as Andrew Stanniland, CEO, ThalesAleniaSpace UK, noted in his welcome, climate change is the “one common topic” that unites the diverse global space industry, from launch providers to data scientists. Over two days, delegates from a wide range of speakers from the space industry, NGOs, start-ups and academia. That was the stark message that opened the RAeS Towards a Space-enabled Net Zero Earth hybrid conference, held on 26/27 April in London. ‘We are currently at a tipping point with regards to space and climate change’. TIM ROBINSON FRAeS reports from the RAeS Towards a Space-enabled Net Zero Earth conference held in April. ![]() ![]() The space sector is set to play a major role in the world’s net zero ambitions, not only in satellites measuring climate change and holding polluters to account, but, even in potentially supplying zero-carbon energy from space. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |