The European Space Agency Look to Satellites for Disaster Planning
The European Space Agency is making tremendous strides in the realm of utilizing satellite technology to predict the nature and severity of storms. The program, called “Destination Earth” aims to develop the world’s leading digital simulation of Earth. Piece of cake, right?
What the European Space Agency is Doing that Others Have Not
The key element of the European Space Agency initiative is access to satellite data – A LOT of satellite data! The agency currently has 16 satellites in orbit, with another 36 planned for launch in the near future.
One of the key elements of the effort is trying to understand Earth’s changing atmosphere. The agency is doing this by tracking unnoticeable pattern shifts, such as previously indiscernible changes in sea levels, freshwater flows, cloud patterns, ocean heat conductivity, and greenhouse gas emissions. The technology can detect changing atmospheric patterns down to the kilometer, which is much better than the 10-kilometer range for existing technologies.
The network of satellites that are currently or soon-to-be in orbit will collect the data necessary to enable artificial intelligence algorithms to create the first-ever digital-twin Earth simulation by the year 2028. Although similar efforts were initiated here in the U.S. by Al Gore in the 1990s, the EU has far surpassed the U.S. in this area and is now the global leader.
A related part of the EU effort is the creation of “climate indexes” which can be shared with traders and weather analysts to simplify weather-related investment decisions in the future. Thus, the information aims to not only streamline the disaster planning process, but it can also be used by companies so they can make better “weather-resistant” decisions.
Although I’d prefer that the U.S., not the European Space Agency, was leading the charge on this front, at least substantial progress is being made. From my perspective, even a tiny improvement in planning lead time is important, and this EU satellite initiative should provide that and a whole lot more. I definitely applaud the effort and will be keep my eye on it to see how everything plays out.
