tag:theconversation.com,2011:/es/topics/earth-observation-43436/articlesEarth observation – The Conversation2024-03-27T01:49:55Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2266212024-03-27T01:49:55Z2024-03-27T01:49:55ZAustralia just committed $207 million to a major satellite program. What is it, and why do we need it?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584628/original/file-20240327-26-vxzw2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C3104%2C6162%2C4601&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Landsat image of Lake Torrens, South Australia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/150566/lake-torrens-is-a-lake-again">NASA Earth Observatory</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last week, the federal minister for Resources and Northern Australia, Madeleine King, <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/news/featured-story/usgs-and-australia-continue-partnership-landsat-next-satellite-mission">signed a A$207 million commitment with the United States</a> in support of “Landsat Next”.</p>
<p>Aptly named, this is the next generation of an Earth observation satellite program from which Australia has benefited for <a href="https://www.ga.gov.au/news/40-years-of-landsat-in-australia">over 40 years</a>.</p>
<p>The commitment means we will make a critical contribution to global Earth observation efforts with our cutting-edge data management. In essence, we will be the custodians of data downloaded from new Landsat satellites – a major role. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/landsat-turns-50-how-satellites-revolutionized-the-way-we-see-and-protect-the-natural-world-186986">Landsat turns 50: How satellites revolutionized the way we see – and protect – the natural world</a>
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<h2>What is Earth observation?</h2>
<p>Earth observation satellites provide the world with more than half of all climate change data – and some of that data can come from nowhere else but space. They also provide over 90% of weather data, which the Bureau of Meteorology uses to give us our daily forecasts. </p>
<p>In Australia, Earth observation data <a href="https://www.spacegovcentre.org/_files/ugd/cd297f_ae32824561374ea0982b562ff8332507.pdf">is also critical for supporting</a> agriculture, fisheries, mining, land and <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/news/all/articles/2018/april/satellite-water-monitoring">water policies</a>, bushfire response, and national security needs. In 2020, the economic benefits of Earth observation data were estimated at over <a href="https://www.deloitte.com/au/en/services/economics/perspectives/economics-earth-observation.html">A$2.4 billion</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584626/original/file-20240327-18-vxzw2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584626/original/file-20240327-18-vxzw2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584626/original/file-20240327-18-vxzw2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584626/original/file-20240327-18-vxzw2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584626/original/file-20240327-18-vxzw2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584626/original/file-20240327-18-vxzw2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584626/original/file-20240327-18-vxzw2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584626/original/file-20240327-18-vxzw2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Arrernte artwork by Roseanne Kemarre Ellis, Caterpillar Tracks, on a satellite antenna at the Alice Springs Ground Station.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/aboriginal-art-satellite-dish">USGS</a></span>
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<p>Furthermore, such data brings immense benefits to First Nations people, particularly in northern Australia. Indigenous rangers use Earth observation data to augment their traditional land and water management practices.</p>
<p>Importantly, Geoscience Australia and CSIRO work closely with the <a href="https://cfat.org.au/cfat-se">Centre for Appropriate Technology</a>, an Indigenous business in Alice Springs. This business owns a satellite dish that receives data from Landsat and other Earth observation satellites.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/painting-with-fire-how-northern-australia-developed-one-of-the-worlds-best-bushfire-management-programs-205113">‘Painting with fire’: how northern Australia developed one of the world’s best bushfire management programs</a>
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<h2>What is Landsat?</h2>
<p>Landsat is a program led by NASA and the US Geological Survey. <a href="https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/">For more than 50 years</a> it has provided the “longest continuous space-based record of Earth’s land in existence”.</p>
<p>This means since 1972 we’ve had continuous data on ice melts, weather and temperature changes, and changes in the planet’s landscapes and freshwater sources.</p>
<p>Australia has been a Landsat beneficiary and partner since the early 1970s. Just earlier this year, emergency services in Queensland facing Cyclone Kirilly depended on Landsat data to <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8564305/australia-continues-partnership-in-satellite-program/">help mitigate potential flooding</a>. Geoscience Australia has also used Landsat data gathered over decades to <a href="https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/article/shifting-shores-of-the-australian-continent-mapped-with-landsat/">map changes in Australia’s shorelines</a>.</p>
<p>And during the Black Summer megafires of 2019–20, the worst bushfire season New South Wales has ever recorded, <a href="https://www.dea.ga.gov.au/article/landsat-black-summer">Landsat images were critical</a> in predicting where the bushfires would be worst, and assisting in real-time response. </p>
<p>The new agreement places us at the centre of data management for the next generation of Landsat.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-made-bushfire-maps-from-satellite-data-and-found-a-glaring-gap-in-australias-preparedness-132087">I made bushfire maps from satellite data, and found a glaring gap in Australia's preparedness</a>
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<h2>What is Landsat Next?</h2>
<p>There have been nine Landsat satellites since 1972, of which eight are operational today. Landsat Next will add three more satellites to this, with new capabilities. As a result, we will get more data more often, and at a higher resolution.</p>
<p>Landsat Next will significantly improve image resolution of some of the original satellites. This means, for example, that 40% more detail can be captured for agricultural sowing, irrigation and harvesting needs.</p>
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<span class="caption">The Great Barrier Reef imaged by Landsat in 1999.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/3270/great-barrier-reef">NASA Earth Observatory</a></span>
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<p>The current Landsat satellites cover 11 spectral bands. These are wavelengths of light captured by satellite sensors, ranging from visible light which we can see with the naked eye to invisible wavelengths like infrared and ultraviolet.</p>
<p>Landsat Next will increase this to up to 26 bands, which makes it possible to track water quality at much greater accuracy. This is helpful, for example, in detecting harmful algal blooms.</p>
<p>Landsat satellites also sense thermal bands. This is a measurement of surface temperatures so we can understand soil health and water levels, and track bushfires.</p>
<p>Landsat Next will improve the resolution of temperature measurements, providing improved climate change data and more accurate information for farmers and sustainable urban planning.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/landsat-zooms-in-on-cities-hottest-neighborhoods-to-help-combat-the-urban-heat-island-effect-182925">Landsat zooms in on cities' hottest neighborhoods to help combat the urban heat island effect</a>
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<h2>Australia is great at satellite data</h2>
<p>The new commitment builds on what Australia already does, and is really good at – the ground and data segments of Earth observation satellite systems. In fact, we are a <a href="https://www.space.gov.au/about-agency/publications/earth-observation-space-roadmap">world leader in Earth observation data management</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6m8_2u91hA">We have excellent geography</a> for collecting data from the satellites via large satellite dishes in Alice Springs. We also have a longstanding tradition of being the data custodians and stewards for our US and European partners.</p>
<p>The Landsat Next agreement fulfils one aspect of the planned <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/news/All/News/2022/March/National-Space-Mission-for-Earth-Observation">National Space Mission for Earth Observation</a> (NSMEO) which was cancelled last year due to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-29/labor-axes-morrison-government-satellite-program/102538686">major budget cuts</a>. This was a disappointment to many people in Australia, and to our international partners.</p>
<p>This new commitment to Landsat Next puts in place part of what we were already planning to do through the NSMEO, and will make us a more important partner in global Earth observation infrastructure.</p>
<p>With our unique geography, Australia is a heavy user of Earth observation data, and this agreement means we can be bigger contributors, as well.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-first-ever-survey-on-australian-attitudes-towards-space-is-out-so-what-do-we-think-219813">The first-ever survey on Australian attitudes towards space is out. So, what do we think?</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226621/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cassandra Steer receives funding from Geoscience Australia and the Department of Defence. In the past she has received funding from the Australian Space Agency, DFAT, the Canadian Department of National Defence, the US Department of State, and the US Department of Defense.</span></em></p>Without satellites, we wouldn’t have much of the Earth and climate data we have today. And Australia is a world leader in satellite data.Cassandra Steer, Deputy Director, Institute for Space (InSpace), Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2061152023-07-12T14:37:12Z2023-07-12T14:37:12ZCôte d’Ivoire is launching its first satellite for Earth observation – and it’s locally made<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533450/original/file-20230622-19-z1rzbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Illustration of a view of Africa from space. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Côte d’Ivoire has <a href="https://www.ecofinagency.com/telecom/0205-44484-cote-d-ivoire-to-launch-its-first-satellite-in-space-by-august-2024">announced plans</a> to launch its first satellite within the next two years. A team of scientists in the fields of astrophysics and geology tell The Conversation Africa about the potential benefits of this development and how the country plans to realise its space industry ambitions.</em> </p>
<h2>What kind of satellite does Côte d'Ivoire plan to launch?</h2>
<p>YAM-SAT-CI 01 will be a nanosatellite for the observation of the Earth. A nanosatellite is a small satellite, weighing from 1kg to 10kg. It will be equipped with a camera which can provide images of the coast, forests, natural parks and urban areas of the country. </p>
<p>The construction of the satellite is 100% Ivorian. It has been entrusted to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/UNIVERSALKONSTRUCTORSASSOCIATED/?locale=ms_MY">Universal Konstructors Associated</a>, a private Ivorian company promoting scientific and technological development in Côte d'Ivoire, in partnership with the <a href="https://inphb.ci/">Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny</a> of Yamoussoukro.</p>
<p>It’s the first step towards more sophisticated satellites and sensors which have many <a href="https://theconversation.com/nanosatellite-launch-is-a-big-step-forward-for-african-space-science-175069">applications</a>. For example they can detect, monitor and map threats to national security, illegal migration, <a href="https://theconversation.com/technique-developed-in-kenya-offers-a-refined-way-to-map-tree-cover-76709">deforestation</a>, illegal gold mining activities, <a href="https://theconversation.com/dust-in-the-atmosphere-is-a-sign-of-trouble-in-south-africas-maize-fields-147939">soil humidity</a> and water reservoirs. They can help minimise the consequences of floods or droughts. </p>
<p>In Côte d’Ivoire, such a satellite could assist the government’s efforts to regulate artisanal mining and combat illegal activities and destruction of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/eyes-in-the-sky-and-on-the-ground-are-helping-forest-conservation-in-cameroon-73695">environment</a>. </p>
<p>These applications rely on sophisticated image processing algorithms, including the use of artificial intelligence.</p>
<h2>What are the other potential benefits and spinoffs?</h2>
<p>Earth observation provides data for agriculture, disaster management and urban planning. The satellite supports various applications, including monitoring vegetation health, mapping water resources, and analysing urban growth patterns.</p>
<p>Aside from the technology’s direct benefits, it serves the scientific and economic development of the nation.</p>
<p>The project of building and launching a satellite is generally accompanied by capacity building in many sectors related to the space industry. It involves engineers and scientists to develop sensors and the ground segment to track and communicate with the satellite. </p>
<p>Other important benefits of such projects include a wider use of space-science technology. A satellite launch may lead to greater use of Earth observations data and products, provided by numerous satellites orbiting around our planet. </p>
<h2>Who will be involved in this project?</h2>
<p>The academic and private sectors all have a role to play in this scientific, technical and political adventure. </p>
<p>The Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouet-Boigny has already planned to set up new curricula in the domain of space and aeronautics. This will directly benefit a new generation of young engineers. And an <a href="https://lastronomieafrique.com/author/davidbaratoux/">Ivoirian Association for Astronomy</a> has been launched. Its outreach activities to promote astronomy and space science to the wider public will increase the scientific literacy of the population. It may inspire the younger generation towards scientific careers. </p>
<p>Lastly, the University Félix Houphouët-Boigny has a laboratory specialising in the observation of the Earth from space: the <a href="https://www.curat-edu.org/">Centre Universitaire de Recherche et d'Application en Télédétection</a>. Its students may also contribute to the design, mission strategy and applications of Côte d’Ivoire’s satellites.</p>
<h2>What are other African countries doing in space technology?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://spaceinafrica.com/reports/">2022 space industry report</a> of the consulting company Space in Africa says the value of the industry in Africa is expected to reach US$22.64 billion in 2026. That’s up from US$19.49 billion in 2021. The report indicates that African nations allocated US$534.9 million to space programmes in 2022 compared to US$523.2 million in 2021. These investments indicate that African countries are preparing for wider use of space technology in handling <a href="https://theconversation.com/starlink-spacexs-new-internet-service-could-be-a-gamechanger-in-africa-200746">challenges</a> affecting the continent.</p>
<p>For instance, on 23 April 2023 <a href="https://ksa.go.ke/taifa-1-satellite/">Kenya launched its first satellite</a>, called Taifa-1, with the help of SpaceX. The satellite is equipped with an optical camera and is expected to provide agricultural and environmental monitoring data for Kenya. </p>
<p>In 2021, Tunisia <a href="https://www.lepoint.fr/afrique/la-tunisie-lance-son-premier-satellite-23-03-2021-2418938_3826.php#11">launched</a> its first 100% Tunisian-made satellite. <a href="https://www.un-spider.org/news-and-events/news/zimbabwe-and-uganda-launched-their-first-satellites-zimsat-1-and">Zimbabwe, Uganda</a>, <a href="https://www.pixalytics.com/egyptsat-a-launched/">Egypt</a> and Angola have also launched satellites in the last 12 months. In April 2023, President Macky Sall announced <a href="https://africanews.space/president-macky-sall-announces-the-launch-of-the-senegalese-space-study-agency/">the launch of the Senegalese Agency of Space Studies</a>. </p>
<p>Egypt, <a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-a-case-for-nigeria-and-south-africa-to-cooperate-on-outer-space-activities-174635">Nigeria</a> and South Africa are the most advanced African countries on space issues. For instance, ZACube, launched in December 2018, is a <a href="https://theconversation.com/cool-cubes-are-changing-the-way-we-play-in-space-41621">nanosatellite</a> developed by the South African National Space Agency and local universities. It focuses on the safety of maritime traffic in South African coastal waters.</p>
<p>Nigeria’s National Space Research and Development Agency was established in 1999. It has launched five satellites since 2003. In December 2022, Nigeria and Rwanda became the first African countries to sign the <a href="https://theconversation.com/outer-space-rwanda-and-nigeria-sign-an-accord-for-more-responsible-exploration-why-this-matters-203202">Artemis Accords</a>, a NASA-led framework outlining best practices for sustainable space exploration. </p>
<p>It’s clear that more and more African countries are investing in space technologies. </p>
<p>The first step is to educate the population about space and the benefits of investing in space technologies. We need to create space-related training courses and promote space science in African countries.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206115/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Baratoux receives funding from French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development and from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (France)</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aziz Diaby Kassamba is affiliated with Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny and Association Ivoirienne d'Astronomie. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc Harris Yao Fortune, Marie Korsaga, and Pancrace Aka do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Côte d’Ivoire’s nanosatellite is the first step towards applications that monitor environmental harm and illegal activities and assist in planning for development.David Baratoux, Geologist, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD)Aziz Diaby Kassamba, Enseignant chercheur en physique de l'espace, Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Cocody, Côte-d'IvoireMarc Harris Yao Fortune, Enseignant-chercheur, astrophysicien , Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Cocody, Côte-d'IvoireMarie Korsaga, Enseignant-Chercheur en physique chimie, Université Joseph Ki-ZerboPancrace Aka, Épistémologue, Historien des sciences et Logicien, Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Cocody, Côte-d'IvoireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1969322023-01-12T13:20:20Z2023-01-12T13:20:20ZNASA’s busiest year in decades – an astronomer sums up the dizzying array of missions in 2022<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503884/original/file-20230110-20-dmjb8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=193%2C367%2C5831%2C5353&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The James Webb Space Telescope began sending its first images back to Earth in the summer of 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flickr.com/photos/nasawebbtelescope/52210580092/">NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI via Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>NASA had a <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-big-2022-historic-moon-mission-webb-telescope-images-more">banner year in 2022</a>, with many successful missions in what was one of the organization’s most active years in decades.</p>
<p>I’m a <a href="http://chrisimpey-astronomy.com/">professor of astronomy</a> who has used NASA telescopes for decades to do <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=OrRLRQ4AAAAJ&hl=en">research</a> in observational cosmology. I also have a keen interest in the role science plays in humanity’s <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/Beyond/">expansion into space</a>.</p>
<p>NASA’s missions over the past year have been remarkably far-ranging – from practicing how to protect the Earth to preparing for the first manned mission to Mars and learning about the earliest days in the universe. By working in the extremes, scientists are learning about and doing more in space than ever before.</p>
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<span class="caption">The DART mission successfully crashed a spacecraft into the asteroid Dimorphos and slightly nudged the orbit of the asteroid.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/dart-s-final-images-prior-to-impact">NASA/Johns Hopkins APL</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Near and far</h2>
<p>Some NASA missions in 2022 focused on protecting or learning more about the Earth, while other missions were focused as far from Earth as possible.</p>
<p>Close to home, NASA <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/pdco/index.html#dart">nudged an asteroid</a> off its trajectory, successfully <a href="https://theconversation.com/nasa-is-crashing-a-spacecraft-into-an-asteroid-to-test-a-plan-that-could-one-day-save-earth-from-catastrophe-190888">demonstrating technology that could save the Earth</a> if an
asteroid or comet was on a collision course with Earth. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/nasa-successfully-shifted-an-asteroids-orbit-dart-spacecraft-crashed-into-and-moved-dimorphos-192317">Double Asteroid Redirection Test</a>, or DART, slammed the 1,340-pound (610-kilogram) DART spacecraft into an 11 billion-pound (5 billion-kilogram) asteroid called Dimorphos. Dimorphos is the smaller of a pair of asteroids that flew past Earth last year. The impact happened 6 million miles (11.7 million kilometers) from Earth and altered the asteroid’s orbit by a <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/early-results-from-nasa-s-dart-mission">small but measurable amount</a>.</p>
<p>Dimorphos and its twin, Didymos, were never a threat to humanity, but <a href="https://theconversation.com/nasa-is-crashing-a-spacecraft-into-an-asteroid-to-test-a-plan-that-could-one-day-save-earth-from-catastrophe-190888">NASA tracks</a> potentially hazardous near-Earth objects for a reason, and DART showed that it would be possible to protect the Earth from an asteroid impact.</p>
<p>NASA has also been studying water both near the Earth and in distant solar systems. On Dec. 16, 2022, a Space-X rocket carried NASA’s <a href="https://sealevel.nasa.gov/news/252/nasa-launches-international-mission-to-survey-earths-water/">Surface Water and Ocean Topography</a> satellite into orbit. This satellite will be looking down at Earth for three years in an attempt to survey nearly all the water on the Earth’s surface. The resulting data will be crucial in understanding how climate change is altering the world’s oceans.</p>
<p>Looking out instead of down, NASA satellites also found two “<a href="https://www.cnet.com/science/space/scientists-identify-two-alien-worlds-mostly-composed-of-water/">water worlds</a>” in a single star system 218 light years away. The planets are <a href="https://theconversation.com/super-earths-are-bigger-more-common-and-more-habitable-than-earth-itself-and-astronomers-are-discovering-more-of-the-billions-they-think-are-out-there-190496">super-Earths</a>, about 50% bigger than our planet, but they have thousands of times more water. </p>
<p>On average, the Earth’s oceans are about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) deep. These two newly discovered exoplanets are covered in oceans 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) deep. The data astronomers are collecting on these planets is offering some of the best clues to date about these common super-Earths that may be <a href="https://theconversation.com/super-earths-are-bigger-more-common-and-more-habitable-than-earth-itself-and-astronomers-are-discovering-more-of-the-billions-they-think-are-out-there-190496">more hospitable to life</a> than the Earth.</p>
<p>Finally, the new <a href="https://webb.nasa.gov/">James Webb Space Telescope</a> has been looking for distant galaxies as far from Earth as possible. <a href="https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/L/Lookback+Time">Distant light is old light</a>, so the James Webb Space Telescope is capturing images of <a href="https://astrobites.org/2022/12/16/jwst-jades/">galaxies from the first few hundred million years</a> of the universe, allowing astronomers to learn a lot about <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-james-webb-space-telescope-has-revealed-a-surprisingly-bright-complex-and-element-filled-early-universe-podcast-196649">what the infant universe was like</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503853/original/file-20230110-24-lxrzxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A rocket sitting on a launchpad in morning light." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503853/original/file-20230110-24-lxrzxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503853/original/file-20230110-24-lxrzxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503853/original/file-20230110-24-lxrzxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503853/original/file-20230110-24-lxrzxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503853/original/file-20230110-24-lxrzxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503853/original/file-20230110-24-lxrzxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503853/original/file-20230110-24-lxrzxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Artemis I mission launched the Orion capsule on a test trip around the Moon aboard the Space Launch System rocket and was the first of a series of launches for the Artemis program.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasakennedy/52477173739/in/album-72157664052441771/">NASA/Kim Shiflett via Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cheap and expensive</h2>
<p>The James Webb Space Telescope was originally budgeted at US$1 billion in the early 2000s. By the time Webb launched, that price tag had ballooned to an astonishing cost of <a href="https://www.slashgear.com/840149/the-total-cost-of-the-james-webb-space-telescope-is-out-of-this-world/">$10 billion</a>. But Webb was not the only expensive NASA mission from 2022.</p>
<p>After <a href="https://theconversation.com/artemis-launch-delay-is-the-latest-of-many-nasa-scrubs-and-comes-from-hard-lessons-on-crew-safety-193504">numerous delays</a>, the Artemis 1 mission had a successful flyby of the Moon before it <a href="https://www.space.com/artemis-1-orion-splashdown-moon-mission-success">splashed down on Dec. 11, 2022</a> – 50 years to the day after Apollo 17 was the last American spacecraft to land on the Moon.</p>
<p>Artemis 1 is the first in a series of NASA missions that aim to <a href="https://theconversation.com/nasas-artemis-1-mission-to-the-moon-sets-the-stage-for-routine-space-exploration-beyond-earths-orbit-heres-what-to-expect-and-why-its-important-189447">return U.S. astronauts to the Moon</a> by 2030 and eventually establish a Moon base. Each launch is estimated to cost around $4.1 billion, with the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/01/nasa-auditor-warns-congress-artemis-missions-sls-rocket-billions-over-budget.html">entire program</a> – including four initial launches and associated research and development – expected to cost an eye-popping $93 billion. </p>
<p>While many recent missions have been among the most ambitious and expensive in the history of space, in some ways 2022 was also the year space became cheap. NASA launched more than a dozen <a href="https://www.space.com/34324-cubesats.html">CubeSats</a>, shoe-box-sized satellites that can do <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-many-satellites-are-orbiting-earth-166715">science experiments in orbit at a cost of only $50,000</a> each. CubeSats weigh just a few pounds, and thanks to their small size and the ever-decreasing cost of rocket launches, even students can get an experiment into space. Almost <a href="https://www.nanosats.eu/">4,000 have been launched</a>, a number that’s projected to double within six years.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IQXNqhQzBLM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The streaks in this video from the Parker Solar Probe are structures called coronal streamers that are part of the surface of the Sun.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Hot and cold</h2>
<p>2022 also saw some of the hottest and coldest temperatures encountered by any spacecraft in history. </p>
<p>Since its launch in August 2018, the Parker Solar Probe has been making closer and closer passes to the Sun, and on Dec. 11, 2022, it swooped past Earth’s star at just over 5 million miles (9 million kilometers) from the surface. The probe reaches incredible speeds as it passes the Sun and set the all-time speed record for a spacecraft at 364,000 mph (586,000 kph) in 2021.</p>
<p>During each pass, the car-sized craft reaches a toasty <a href="https://www.space.com/nasa-parker-solar-probe-12th-sun-flyby">2,500 degrees</a> Fahrenheit (1,371 Celsius) and is able to not only <a href="https://physics.aps.org/articles/v14/176">survive the heat</a> but also measure the physical conditions in the outermost layers of the Sun. That data is helping astronomers better understand <a href="https://theconversation.com/solar-storms-can-destroy-satellites-with-ease-a-space-weather-expert-explains-the-science-177510">solar wind</a>, the stream of high-energy particles that can <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-large-solar-storm-could-knock-out-the-power-grid-and-the-internet-an-electrical-engineer-explains-how-177982">interfere with electronics</a> and telecommunications on Earth.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/">the Voyager 1 spacecraft</a> continued its exploration of interstellar space. Since its launch in 1977, Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, have been traveling away from Earth. At a distance of <a href="https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/">14.8 billion miles from Earth</a> (22.5 billion kilometers) and counting, Voyager 1 is now the farthest human-made object from the Sun, and therefore also the coldest. The temperature beyond the edge of the Solar System where Voyager 1 now roams is a frigid 3 degrees above absolute zero, roughly minus-454 F (minus-270 C).</p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-voyager-space-probes-can-teach-humanity-about-immortality-and-legacy-as-they-sail-through-space-for-trillions-of-years-177513">venerable spacecraft</a> suffered a data glitch in May 2022, but despite the 22-hour travel time for a radio signal to travel between Voyager 1 and Earth, NASA engineers were able to <a href="https://www.inverse.com/science/voyager-1-nasa-communication">restore full function to the craft</a>.</p>
<h2>Volume and longevity</h2>
<p>NASA accomplished some incredible feats in 2022, but the organization’s pace is slow and steady compared to frenetic activity in the private sector.</p>
<p>Last year <a href="https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/commercial-space/new-record-set-2022-orbital-launch-activity">set a record</a> for the volume of space activity. There were 186 launches, all but six of which were successful. <a href="https://www.space.com/spacex-celebrates-2022-61-launches">Space-X</a> accounted for 61 orbital launches, doubling its total for 2021.</p>
<p>Some of NASA’s achievements in 2022 were the result of persistence and durability. A U.S. citizen spent a record 355 days in orbit, setting the record for the longest <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/record-setting-nasa-astronaut-crewmates-return-from-space-station-0">single spaceflight</a>. This year also marked the 22nd year of continuous human presence on the International Space Station, and the 25th year of continuous robotic exploration of Mars.</p>
<p>The ancient Roman poet Virgil coined the phrase “ad astra per aspera,” or “to the stars through difficulties,” and this last year has shown that human efforts can overcome difficulties and reach for the stars.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196932/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Impey receives funding from the National Science Foundation and Epic Games.</span></em></p>NASA has been gaining momentum in recent years as investment into space has ramped up in the US. In 2022, missions dealt with the farthest, closest, hottest and coldest conditions in the universe.Chris Impey, University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of ArizonaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1820122022-05-02T12:37:13Z2022-05-02T12:37:13ZSatellites over the Amazon capture the choking of the ‘house of God’ by the Belo Monte Dam – they can help find solutions, too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459872/original/file-20220426-12-ce5rr7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=110%2C8%2C1886%2C1113&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">NASA's Landsat satellites have been monitoring changes on Earth's landscape for 50 years.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/details.cgi?aid=10812">NASA illustration</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Xingu River is revered as the “<a href="https://sites.coloradocollege.edu/indigenoustraditions/sacred-lands/xingu-tribes-and-the-belo-monte-dam/">house of God</a>” by the Indigenous people living along its Volte Grande, or Big Bend, in the Brazilian Amazon. The river is essential to their culture and religion, and a crucial source of fish, transportation and water for trees and plants.</p>
<p>Five years ago, the Big Bend was a broad river valley interwoven with river channels teaming with fish, turtles and other wildlife. Today, as much as 80% of the water flow is gone.</p>
<p>That’s because in late 2015, the massive Belo Monte Dam project began redirecting water from the Xingu River upstream from the Big Bend, channeling it through a canal to a giant new reservoir. The reservoir now powers one of the largest hydropower dams in the world, designed with enough capacity to power around 20 million households, though it has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-amazon-dam-is-supposed-to-provide-clean-energy-but-its-destroying-livelihoods-and-unique-species-166773">producing far less</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459909/original/file-20220426-12-msu0wb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A young person drops off baskets while people wait behind him in a narrow boat holding manioc, an edible root." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459909/original/file-20220426-12-msu0wb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459909/original/file-20220426-12-msu0wb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459909/original/file-20220426-12-msu0wb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459909/original/file-20220426-12-msu0wb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459909/original/file-20220426-12-msu0wb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459909/original/file-20220426-12-msu0wb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459909/original/file-20220426-12-msu0wb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indigenous communities living in the Big Bend region of the Xingu River and its Bacaja tributary rely on the river for food and to transport crops.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/after-harvesting-a-weeks-worth-of-manioc-from-one-of-the-news-photo/470902995?adppopup=true">Taylor Weidman/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most of the river’s flow now bypasses the Big Bend, and the Indigenous peoples who live there are watching <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/an-amazon-defender-stands-up-for-her-land-and-her-people">their livelihoods</a> and <a href="https://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=21-P13-00013&segmentID=2">way of life become endangered</a>. Some of the most devastating effects are during the rainy season, when wildlife and trees rely heavily on having high water. The consortium of utilities and mining companies that runs the dam has pushed back on government orders to allow more water to reach the Big Bend, claiming it would <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/brazil-dam-idCNL1N2IR2M8">cut their generation and profits</a>. The group has argued in the past that there was <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/amazons-belo-monte-dam-cuts-xingu-river-flow-85-a-crime-indigenous-say/">no scientific proof</a> that the change in water flow harmed fish or turtles.</p>
<p>There is proof of the Belo Monte Dam project’s impact on the Big Bend, though – from above. Satellite data shows how dramatically the dam has altered the hydrology of the river there.</p>
<p><iframe id="3O4sz" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/3O4sz/7/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<figure>
<iframe frameborder="0" class="juxtapose" width="100%" height="400" src="https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html?uid=ac448b06-c5a6-11ec-b5bb-6595d9b17862"></iframe>
</figure><figure><figcaption>The front satellite image shows the Big Bend of the Xingu River on May 26, 2000, before the Belo Monte Dam project began. Move the slider to the left to see the same region on July 20, 2017.</figcaption></figure>
<p>The same satellite data can also point to potential solutions and ways that operators of the Belo Monte Dam could revise the dam’s operations to keep both its renewable power and the Xingu River flowing at the most important times of the year.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=fUbQsaoAAAAJ&hl=en">scientists who work with remote sensing</a>, we believe satellite observations can empower populations around the world who face threats to their resources. The fact that satellite observations of surface water of the Xingu River can be clearly tied to the construction and operation of the Belo Monte Dam offers hope that this kind of knowledge can no longer be hidden.</p>
<h2>50 years of Earth observation</h2>
<p>Satellites have been monitoring changes in Earth’s landscapes for 50 years, ever since the U.S. launched the <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/landsat-missions/landsat-1">first Landsat satellite</a> on July 23, 1972. By piecing together data from the Landsat program and other satellites, scientists can reconstruct historical patterns of change in the landscape and predict current and future trends. They can monitor forest cover, drought, wildfire damage and desert expansion, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2021.105043">as well as river flows</a> and reservoir operations around the world.</p>
<p>An example of how that data can be used to help threatened communities is the global <a href="http://www.satellitedams.net">Reservoir Assessment Tool</a>, which was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2021.105043">created by</a> colleagues and one of us at the University of Washington. It monitors how much water is in about 1,600 reservoirs around the world.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459869/original/file-20220426-14-ssn5d4.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Screenshot of the tool showing a map of Brazil and an example dam's chart of water outflow." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459869/original/file-20220426-14-ssn5d4.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459869/original/file-20220426-14-ssn5d4.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459869/original/file-20220426-14-ssn5d4.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459869/original/file-20220426-14-ssn5d4.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459869/original/file-20220426-14-ssn5d4.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459869/original/file-20220426-14-ssn5d4.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459869/original/file-20220426-14-ssn5d4.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Reservoir Assessment Tool allows communities to track river flow changes caused by nearby dams and locate proposed dams. It currently tracks dams built before 2000.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.satellitedams.net">University of Washington</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dam operators already collect thorough on-site data about water flow, but their datasets are rarely shared with the public. Remote sensing doesn’t face the same restrictions. Making that data public can help hold operators to account for and protect local communities and their rivers.</p>
<h2>How satellites could pressure Belo Monte to share</h2>
<p>Satellite monitoring can provide unprecedented insight into the operations of dams like the Belo Monte and their impact on downstream populations.</p>
<p>Existing satellite data can be used to monitor recent historical behavior of a dam’s operations, track the state of the river and patterns of inflow and outflow at the dam, and even forecast the likely state of the reservoir. Much of that data is easily accessible and free. For example, a tool created for the regional governing body of the Mekong River Commission is empowering communities along the river in Southeast Asia by giving them access to <a href="https://depts.washington.edu/saswe/mekong/">satellite data about water flow at each dam</a> – data that cannot be hidden or modified by those in power.</p>
<p>While estimates based on remote sensing have higher uncertainty than on-site measurements, unfettered access to such information can provide local populations with evidence to argue, in court if necessary, for more water releases.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GmLjTpix4Uw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Members of Indigenous groups living in the Big Bend region talk about changes they’ve seen since the dam was built.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Long-term observations of dams and hydroclimate records show it is possible to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125708">revise the standard operating procedures of dams</a> so they allow more water to flow downstream when needed. A compromise with the Belo Monte Dam could ensure that enough water flows to the Xingu’s Big Bend region while also providing hydropower benefits.</p>
<p>By making the impact of the Belo Monte Dam and others like it public to the world, agencies and the general public can put pressure on the dam’s operators and its investors to release more water. Public pressure will become increasingly important, as water disputes in the Amazon are expected to worsen as the planet warms <a href="https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/deforestation-brazils-amazon-has-reached-record-high-whats-being-done">and deforestation continues</a>. Climate change <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-0492-y">will affect river flow patterns</a> in the Amazon and likely increase droughts, leaving less water during some periods.</p>
<h2>A tool for social justice</h2>
<p>The Amazonian native population has declined, and dams and nearby mining operations, <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/an-amazon-defender-stands-up-for-her-land-and-her-people">like those threatening the Xingu’s Big Bend region</a>, play a role. The current Brazilian government under president Jair Bolsonaro has generally sided with <a href="https://www.iwgia.org/en/brazil.html">wealthy landowners and industry over Indigenous peoples</a>, making access to independent data crucial for protecting these communities.</p>
<p>Monitoring dams is a powerful way satellites can make a difference. Nearly two-thirds of Brazil’s electricity comes from <a href="https://www.abradee.org.br/setor-eletrico/visao-geral-do-setor/">more than 200 large and 400-plus small</a> hydropower plants, and <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/brazils-amazon-dam-plans-ominous-warnings-of-future-destruction-commentary/">more large dams are expected</a> to be built in the Amazon this decade. Many are in areas with Indigenous populations.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459955/original/file-20220427-20-c2tqce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Wide aerial view of Amazon rainforest and the dam under construction." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459955/original/file-20220427-20-c2tqce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459955/original/file-20220427-20-c2tqce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459955/original/file-20220427-20-c2tqce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459955/original/file-20220427-20-c2tqce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459955/original/file-20220427-20-c2tqce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459955/original/file-20220427-20-c2tqce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459955/original/file-20220427-20-c2tqce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Belo Monte Dam’s construction, shown here in 2012, flooded land and changed the river.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/construction-continues-at-the-belo-monte-dam-complex-in-the-news-photo/146390482?adppopup=true">Mario Tama/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>[<em>Over 150,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-150ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>Remote sensing may not directly solve the problem of social injustice, but it offers the tools needed to recognize the problems and explore solutions. Being able to monitor changes in near-real time and compare them with historical operations can help maintain the checks and balances required for equitable growth.</p>
<p><em>Raaghul Senthilkumar, a former Master’s student at the University of Washington, contributed to this article.</em></p>
<p><em>This article was updated to highlight the 50th anniversary of the Landsat program, on July 23, 2022.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182012/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Faisal Hossain receives funding from NASA. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hörður Bragi Helgason, Pritam Das, and Shahzaib Khan do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When Indigenous peoples lose their river flow to dams, satellite programs like Landsat – which is celebrating its 50th anniversary – can help them fight for their resources.Pritam Das, Graduate Research Assistant, University of WashingtonFaisal Hossain, Professor of Hydrology, University of WashingtonHörður Bragi Helgason, Graduate Research Assistant, University of WashingtonShahzaib Khan, Graduate Research Assistant in Computational Hydrology, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1683732021-11-04T19:08:20Z2021-11-04T19:08:20ZClouds in a new light: rejected satellite data gives a fresh view of our floating companions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422557/original/file-20210922-13-4xlw96.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=161%2C325%2C1203%2C776&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grayson Cooke</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Clouds have been objects of reverie and wonder throughout human history, inspiring art and imagination, and of course warning of extreme weather events. </p>
<p>Clouds are also central players in Earth’s climate. They move water around the globe, reflect sunlight and interact with radiation emitted by the Earth, and in so doing can both cool and warm the planet. </p>
<p>How clouds react as the planet heats up is a matter of serious concern. As the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/">latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report</a> reiterates, we sit on the brink of a precipice in terms of our ability to slow or halt the global heating humans are causing. </p>
<p>Climate scientists study clouds closely, but translating scientific findings into forms that catch the public imagination is not always an easy task. Our new film, <a href="https://www.graysoncooke.com/path99">Path 99</a>, uses satellite imagery and the tools of art and science to show clouds in a spectacular new light. </p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/407353796" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Data from the Himawari 8 weather satellite shows water vapour flowing through Earth’s atmosphere.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Satellites, clouds and invalid data</h2>
<p>Remote sensing satellite data is produced by a very large multinational effort, and it makes an immense contribution to our knowledge of the world. Meteorology, geoscience and climate science all rely on satellite data. </p>
<p>But we can gain even more from this data if we explore it via the creative arts. When we bring knowledge to life through imagination and feeling, we can create new ways of experiencing, understanding and responding to our planet. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-where-do-clouds-come-from-and-why-do-they-have-different-shapes-102404">Curious Kids: where do clouds come from and why do they have different shapes?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://www.graysoncooke.com/path99">Path 99</a> – which launches next week at the <a href="https://www.nziff.co.nz/2021/wellington/path-99/">New Zealand International Film Festival</a> – uses satellite images of clouds over Australia to highlight the importance of clouds to climate. Designed to be viewed on the domed screen of a planetarium with an enveloping electronic soundtrack, it combines art, science and Earth. </p>
<p>We used data from two satellites, America’s <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/nli/landsat/landsat-8?qt-science_support_page_related_con=0#qt-science_support_page_related_con">Landsat 8</a> and Japan’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himawari_8">Himawari 8</a>, made available by Geoscience Australia and the <a href="https://www.dea.ga.gov.au/">Digital Earth Australia</a> program, and the Bureau of Meteorology.</p>
<p>Landsat 8 is an Earth observation satellite mainly used for monitoring environmental conditions at ground level. Its orbit takes it over the poles while the planet spins beneath it, which means it can view the entire globe over the course of a 16-day cycle of 233 orbits or “paths”. The track running down the centre of Australia is path 99, hence the film’s title.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/an-artists-surreal-view-of-australia-created-from-satellite-data-captured-700km-above-earth-96718">An artist's surreal view of Australia – created from satellite data captured 700km above Earth</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<hr>
<p>For geoscientists, clouds are an obstruction to the view of the land from orbit. They use software to comb through satellite data pixel by pixel, identifying and removing clouds and other atmospheric noise to obtain clear images.</p>
<p>At any given time, clouds cover around two-thirds of Earth, so what the scientists sift out creates a vast archive of “invalid data” – a multi-year record of incredible cloud formations.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422550/original/file-20210922-19-1y05asx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Satellite image showing clouds over Kati Thanda / Lake Eyre" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422550/original/file-20210922-19-1y05asx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422550/original/file-20210922-19-1y05asx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422550/original/file-20210922-19-1y05asx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422550/original/file-20210922-19-1y05asx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422550/original/file-20210922-19-1y05asx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422550/original/file-20210922-19-1y05asx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422550/original/file-20210922-19-1y05asx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Invalid Data: Kati Thanda / Lake Eyre 12/03/2017’ (2019). This Landsat 8 satellite image shows clouds over Kati Thanda / Lake Eyre on March 12 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grayson Cooke. NASA/USGS Landsat 8 OLI.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our project focuses on this “invalid data”, showing the clouds, cloud shadow and gauzy fragments of land that are deemed unusable for scientific Earth observation. </p>
<p>A scientist’s waste can be an artist’s treasure. Projects like ours, combining art and science, show what can be gained when we look at the aesthetic qualities of the objects of scientific enquiry from a more human-centred perspective.</p>
<h2>Clouds in a new light</h2>
<p>Landsat 8’s sensor records what is known as “multi-spectral” imagery. This is data recorded in “bands” that isolate specific parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, from visible light to the near infrared. </p>
<p>Scientists use the infrared bands to study <a href="https://www.dea.ga.gov.au/products/dea-water-observations">plants and water</a>. When we used them to render clouds, we discovered startling colours, textures and forms.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422551/original/file-20210922-19-z0ub2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="True colour and false colour images of clouds." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422551/original/file-20210922-19-z0ub2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422551/original/file-20210922-19-z0ub2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422551/original/file-20210922-19-z0ub2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422551/original/file-20210922-19-z0ub2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422551/original/file-20210922-19-z0ub2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422551/original/file-20210922-19-z0ub2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422551/original/file-20210922-19-z0ub2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">On the right is a ‘true colour’ image, mapping the red, green and blue bands (432) of the sensor to RGB in the output image. On the left is a ‘false colour’ image, mapping the near infrared, and two shortwave infrared bands (567) of the sensor to RGB. The infrared image picks out large variation in cloud structure and therefore height, temperature and opacity more effectively than the true colour image.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grayson Cooke. NASA/USGS Landsat 8 OLI.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The dramatic shift in colouration that results from mapping the infrared bands into the visible spectrum, turning shades of white and grey into highly coloured tableaux, translates clouds into something radically unexpected. </p>
<p>Scientifically speaking, the coloured images reveal the remarkable spectral complexity of clouds, in terms of which wavelengths of sunlight they reflect and which they absorb. The variations in colour reflect wide ranges of cloud temperatures, densities, and heights, as well as the presence or absence of dust and other aerosol particles.</p>
<h2>Tracing vapour</h2>
<p>The Himawari 8 satellite sits in a geostationary orbit high above a point on the equator just north of Papua New Guinea. Its field of view allows it to record multi-spectral images of much of the Asia-Pacific region every 10 minutes, including several infrared bands used to track gases and other particles in the atmosphere. </p>
<p>In the video clips shown in this article, Path 99 uses bands designed to show the transport of water vapour around the planet. This allows us to see Australia’s clouds in their wider context, as part of the massive circulations that distribute thermal energy around the Earth.</p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/469357066" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The “Path 99” trailer for planetarium. Imagine the circular image as a dome flipped up and rotated above your head.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Heads in the clouds</h2>
<p>As modern human existence increasingly transforms the Earth, its atmosphere and climate, we need new ways to understand, represent and address this impact. </p>
<p>Cloud behaviours are vital clues to the extent of the changes in climate and weather. Now more than ever, we should all have our heads in the clouds.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/artists-are-not-at-the-negotiating-table-at-cop26-but-art-is-everywhere-what-can-they-accomplish-through-their-work-170786">Artists are not at the negotiating table at COP26 but art is everywhere. What can they accomplish through their work?</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168373/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This project has been produced with the support of Geoscience Australia and Digital Earth Australia, and with the assistance of resources from the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) which is supported by the Australian Government.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christian Jakob receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dugal McKinnon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Clouds are central players in climate change, and ‘Path 99’ reveals them in a new light using data discarded by scientists.Grayson Cooke, Associate Professor, Chair of Creative Arts, Southern Cross UniversityChristian Jakob, Professor in Atmospheric Science, Monash UniversityDugal McKinnon, Associate Professor, Composition and Sonic Arts, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1650682021-08-04T14:57:14Z2021-08-04T14:57:14ZOne of Nigeria’s satellites is on its last legs: why this is worrying<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412979/original/file-20210725-21-1jqv8m5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Satellite images are critical for security, communication, agriculture and other essential services. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Satellite image (c) 2020 Maxar Technologies.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Nigeria has sponsored or co-sponsored six satellites, of which only two are currently operational. One of them is <a href="https://www.thecable.ng/extra-nigerias-satellite-is-outdated-but-functioning-by-grace-says-nasrda-dg">functioning even though it has passed its expiry date</a>, according to the director general of the <a href="https://nasrda.gov.ng/">National Space Research and Development Agency</a>. The Conversation’s West Africa regional editor, Adejuwon Soyinka, asks <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14777622.2017.1339254">space policy researcher</a> Samuel Oyewole to explain what this means for the country.</em> </p>
<p><strong>What does it mean for a satellite to run out of fuel or expire?</strong></p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-is-a-satellite-58.html">satellite</a> can be said to have expired by design or operation. Like every other machine, satellites are designed with a projected expiry date or calculated life expectancy. Beyond this period the operational survival is not guaranteed by the manufacturer. The ability to keep functioning beyond the set date is driven by a combination of factors. These include the quality of its design, development and maintenance as well as a favourable host environment. A satellite can survive as long as it is supported by its hardware and software, control system and hosting orbit. </p>
<p>Operationally, a satellite expires when any of its critical components suffers enough damage or is degraded to the point of causing system or major sub-system failure. </p>
<p>A satellite is made up of different components. These include a protective box, on-board computer for receiving, processing and transmitting signals, as well as solar array panels, batteries and fuel for energy. Any problem with any of these can translate to the operational end of a satellite.</p>
<p>Unlike cars or aircraft, satellites don’t really need fuel for their daily orbital operation. They mostly rely on solar powered batteries. However, the fuel is relevant in supporting satellites to maintain orbital trajectory and conduct manoeuvres when required. Hence, when a satellite runs out of power it is usually switched off to avoid collision. </p>
<p>Beyond these, an accident or an attack can end the operational life expectancy of a satellite. Space is a very harsh environment, which is becoming increasingly congested.</p>
<p>For example, a satellite can be damaged or destroyed by: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>harsh space weather, including radiation and solar flare;</p></li>
<li><p>collision with another satellite and space debris, such as natural meteoroids (rocks and metallic objects) and human-made junk in orbit; and </p></li>
<li><p>attacks from <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a32008306/anti-satellite-weapons/">anti-satellite weapons</a>, including missiles, weaponised satellites, lasers and hacking. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>This means it’s important that satellites are designed to the highest engineering quality. </p>
<h2>What’s the status of the satellite?</h2>
<p>Nigeria currently has a <a href="http://www.cgwic.com/in-orbitdelivery/communicationssatellite/program/NigComSat-1R.html">communication satellite, NigComSat-1R</a>, and an Earth observation <a href="https://earth.esa.int/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/n/nigeriasat-2">satellite, NigeriaSat-2</a>, in operation. </p>
<p>The communication satellite was designed to last for 15 years (2011-2026) in orbit. The Earth observation satellite is surviving beyond projected life expectancy of seven years (2011-2018). This is a testament to the quality of its engineering, thanks to its manufacturer, the UK based Surrey Satellite Technology Limited. A favourable host environment would also be a factor. </p>
<p>The director general of the <a href="https://nasrda.gov.ng/">National Space Research and Development Agency</a> said recently that the satellite was <a href="https://www.thecable.ng/extra-nigerias-satellite-is-outdated-but-functioning-by-grace-says-nasrda-dg">surviving by grace</a>. It’s possible he was referring to the operation endurance of NigeriaSat-2.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, some of the critical components of the satellite may not endure much longer. This would mean it would stop operating.</p>
<h2>What are the implications if it stops operating?</h2>
<p>If <a href="https://earth.esa.int/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/n/nigeriasat-2">NigeriaSat-2</a> goes down without replacement, it will affect Nigeria’s capacity to access space support for development and security. </p>
<p>For example, the satellite provides information on security, agriculture and transportation. Aside from satellite generated data, the Nigerian government has limited capacity to determine things like agricultural and construction activities across the country in almost real time. </p>
<p>In addition, information from satellite is vital for disaster management – it enables early warnings to be issued – and national security policy. </p>
<p>By having its own satellite, Nigeria doesn’t need to rely on basic satellite data from other countries. </p>
<p>Without this satellite – or a replacement – Nigeria would be forced to rely on its archive or foreign government and private companies to supply the relevant data. This isn’t optimal. Firstly, information from the archives would be old. Secondly, relying on foreign government or information from private companies carries risks. </p>
<h2>What can be done to manage the loss of the satellite?</h2>
<p>The loss of any satellite is inevitable. So timely investment in a replacement is critical. The government has started moving in this direction. The <a href="https://www.budgetoffice.gov.ng/index.php/2021-fgn-approved-budget-details?task=document.viewdoc&id=906">approved 2021 budget</a> has limited provision for manufacturing and launching NigeriaSat-3 and NigeriaSar-1. It also includes plan for training 60 engineers, among other things. But this should have been done much earlier. </p>
<h2>What’s your assessment of Nigeria’s investment in satellite research and development?</h2>
<p>Nigeria has made huge investments in this area. More than <a href="https://africanews.space/how-much-has-nasrda-contributed-to-nigerias-economic-growth-and-development/">$1 billion</a> has been set aside for this purpose over the last two decades. This included about $450 million spent on two communication satellites and four Earth observatory or research satellites. </p>
<p>But investment still falls short of what is required. For example, the available satellites aren’t enough to ensure a national constellation that can provide adequate and reliable coverage for communication or Earth observatory services. </p>
<p>More importantly, Nigeria hasn’t invested in satellite manufacturing capability. It has trained many engineers. But it lacks required infrastructure to support building satellites. Existing satellites were designed and built in the UK, China and Japan. </p>
<p>Nigeria has got considerable benefit from its satellites, which have produced thousands of relevant images for development and security. And it has developed centres across the country to process and convert satellite data to what is easily consumable. These have been used to support agriculture, disaster management, education and military campaigns.</p>
<p>The communication satellite has also been useful in supporting civil, commercial and military demands. With the Earth observation satellite, it has <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10220461.2020.1782258">contributed</a> to the command and control via computers, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance of the Nigerian military. </p>
<p>Some federal ministries and agencies, as well as government and private-owned corporations, have equally benefited from their partnership with the Nigerian Communication Satellite Limited. </p>
<p>But there are still concerns that Nigeria’s space capabilities are underutilised. For example, data that is available from the Nigerian Earth observation satellites isn’t used in town planning in most state and local governments. </p>
<p>Similar concern is evident in the management of forest reserves. These have become sanctuaries for criminals. </p>
<p>Benefits from investment in satellite R&D are closely connected to the capacity of public institutions and the private sector to access, adopt and use space technologies to advance development and security in the country.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165068/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samuel Oyewole does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>An expert says Nigeria’s capacity to access space support for development and security will be affected if its satellite goes down.Samuel Oyewole, Lecturer, Political Science, Federal University, Oye EkitiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1614932021-05-25T15:01:05Z2021-05-25T15:01:05ZFive satellite images that show how fast our planet is changing<p>You have probably seen satellite images of the planet through applications like Google Earth. These provide a fascinating view of the surface of the planet from a unique vantage point and can be both beautiful to look at and useful aids for planning. But satellite observations can provide far more insights than that. In fact, they are essential for understanding how our planet is changing and responding to global heating and can do so much more than just “taking pictures”. </p>
<p>It really is rocket science and the kind of information we can now obtain from what are called Earth observation satellites is revolutionising our ability to carry out a comprehensive and timely health check on the planetary systems we rely on for our survival. We can measure changes in sea level down to a single millimetre, changes in how much water is stored in underground rocks, the temperature of the land and ocean and the spread of atmospheric pollutants and greenhouse gases, all from space.</p>
<p>Here I have selected five striking images that illustrate how Earth observation data is informing climate scientists about the changing characteristics of the planet we call home.</p>
<h2>1. The sea level is rising – but where?</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402458/original/file-20210524-23-r4zfxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map showing global sea level rise" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402458/original/file-20210524-23-r4zfxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402458/original/file-20210524-23-r4zfxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402458/original/file-20210524-23-r4zfxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402458/original/file-20210524-23-r4zfxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402458/original/file-20210524-23-r4zfxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402458/original/file-20210524-23-r4zfxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402458/original/file-20210524-23-r4zfxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The sea is rising quickly – but not evenly.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ESA/CLS/LEGOS</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sea level rise is predicted to be one of the most serious consequences of global heating: under the more extreme “business-as-usual” scenario, a two-metre rise would flood 600 million people <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12808-z?fbclid=IwAR02eB8HX3vPOgHpQjRRbujjoe0ZW932ziimLBOpJ-3wupL31SYlB81ui_o">by the end of this century</a>. The pattern of sea surface height change, however, is not uniform across the oceans. </p>
<p>This image shows mean sea level trends over 13 years in which the global average rise was about 3.2mm a year. But the rate was three or four times faster in some places, like the south western Pacific to the east of Indonesia and New Zealand, where there are numerous small islands and atolls that are already very vulnerable to sea level rise. Meanwhile in other parts of the ocean the sea level has barely changed, such as in the Pacific to the west of North America.</p>
<h2>2. Permafrost is thawing</h2>
<figure> <img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/1589/image2-33.gif?1621946141"><figcaption>Source: ESA</figcaption></figure>
<p>Permafrost is permanently frozen ground and the vast majority of it lies in the Arctic. It stores huge quantities of carbon but when it thaws, that carbon is released as CO₂ and an even more potent greenhouse gas: methane. Permafrost stores about <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01313-4#:%7E:text=We%20estimate%20that%20abrupt%20permafrost,regions%20that%20will%20thaw%20gradually.">1,500 billion tonnes</a> of carbon – twice as much as in the whole of the atmosphere – and it is incredibly important that carbon stays in the ground.</p>
<p>This animation combines satellite, ground-based measurements of soil temperature and computer modelling to map the permafrost temperature at depth across the Arctic and how it is changing with time, giving an indication of where it is thawing.</p>
<h2>3. Lockdown cleans Europe’s skies</h2>
<figure> <img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/1590/image3-35.gif?1621946793"><figcaption>Source: ESA</figcaption></figure>
<p>Nitrogen dioxide is an atmospheric pollutant that can have serious health impacts, especially for those who are asthmatic or have weakened lung function, and it can increase the acidity of rainfall with damaging effects on sensitive ecosystems and plant health. A major source is from internal combustion engines found in cars and other vehicles.</p>
<p>This animation shows the difference in NO₂ concentrations over Europe before national pandemic-related lockdowns began in March 2020 and just after. The latter shows a dramatic reduction in concentration over major conurbations such as Madrid, Milan and Paris.</p>
<h2>4. Deforestation in the Amazon</h2>
<iframe src="https://www.esa.int/content/view/embedjw/353312" width="100%" height="360" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<p>Credits: ESA/USGS/Deimos Imaging </p>
<p>Tropical forests have been described as the lungs of the planet, breathing in CO₂ and storing it in woody biomass while exhaling oxygen. Deforestation in Amazonia has been in the news recently because of deregulation and increased forest clearing in <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-55130304">Brazil</a> but it had been taking place, perhaps not so rapidly, for decades. This animation shows dramatic loss of rainforest in the western Brazilian state of Rondonia between 1986 and 2010, as observed by satellites. </p>
<h2>5. A megacity-sized iceberg</h2>
<figure> <img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/1588/image5-39.gif?1621943077"><figcaption>Source: ESA</figcaption></figure>
<p>The Antarctic Ice Sheet contains enough frozen water to raise global sea level by 58 metres if it all ended up in the ocean. The floating ice shelves that fringe the continent act as a buffer and barrier between the warm ocean and inland ice but they are vulnerable to both oceanic and atmospheric warming. </p>
<p>This animation shows the break-off of a huge iceberg dubbed A-74, captured by satellite radar images that have the advantage they can “see” through clouds and operate day or night and are thus unaffected by the 24 hours of darkness that occurs during the Antarctic winter. The iceberg that forms is 1,270 km² in area which is about the same size as Greater London.</p>
<p>These examples illustrate just a few ways in which satellite data are providing unique, global observations of key components of the climate system and biosphere that are essential for our understanding of how the planet is changing. We can use this data to monitor those changes and improve models used to predict future change. In the run up to the vitally important UN climate conference, COP26 in Glasgow this November, colleagues and I have produced a <a href="https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_792662_smxx.pdf">briefing paper</a> to highlight the role Earth observation satellites will play in safeguarding the climate and other systems that we rely on to make this beautiful, fragile planet habitable.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161493/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Bamber receives funding from the UK Natural Environment Research Council, the European Commission Horizon2020 Framework Programme and the European Space Agency. </span></em></p>Earth observation satellites can measure millimetre changes in sea level and track deforestation in near-real time.Jonathan Bamber, Professor of Physical Geography, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1449082020-09-08T12:16:18Z2020-09-08T12:16:18ZProtecting half of the planet is the best way to fight climate change and biodiversity loss – we’ve mapped the key places to do it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/356613/original/file-20200904-14-uayiab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2959%2C1800&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rapid loss of species like these Spix's macaws, considered extinct in the wild, may represent the sixth mass extinction in Earth's history.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/spixs-macaws-felicitas-frieda-paula-and-paul-sit-on-a-news-photo/129031564?adppopup=true">PATRICK PLEUL/DPA/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Humans are dismantling and disrupting natural ecosystems around the globe and changing Earth’s climate. Over the past 50 years, actions like farming, logging, hunting, development and global commerce have caused <a href="https://ipbes.net/global-assessment">record losses of species</a> on land and at sea. Animals, birds and reptiles are disappearing tens to hundreds of times faster than the natural rate of extinction over the past 10 million years. </p>
<p>Now the world is also contending with a global pandemic. In geographically remote regions such as the Brazilian Amazon, COVID-19 is devastating Indigenous populations, with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31242-3">tragic consequences</a> for both Indigenous peoples and the lands they steward.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sPyLa9oAAAAJ&hl=en">My research</a> focuses on ecosystems and climate change from regional to global scales. In 2019, I worked with conservation biologist and strategist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=IO_pazEAAAAJ&hl=en">Eric Dinerstein</a> and 17 colleagues to develop a road map for simultaneously averting a sixth mass extinction and reducing climate change by protecting half of Earth’s terrestrial, freshwater and marine realms by 2030. We called this plan “<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw2869">A Global Deal for Nature</a>.” </p>
<p>Now we’ve released a follow-on called the “<a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/36/eabb2824.abstract">Global Safety Net</a>” that identifies the exact regions on land that must be protected to achieve its goals. Our aim is for nations to pair it with the <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement">Paris Climate Agreement</a> and use it as a dynamic tool to assess progress towards our comprehensive conservation targets.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/356609/original/file-20200904-20-1pofu39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/356609/original/file-20200904-20-1pofu39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/356609/original/file-20200904-20-1pofu39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/356609/original/file-20200904-20-1pofu39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/356609/original/file-20200904-20-1pofu39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/356609/original/file-20200904-20-1pofu39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/356609/original/file-20200904-20-1pofu39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/356609/original/file-20200904-20-1pofu39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Population size of terrestrial vertebrate species on the brink (i.e., with under 1,000 individuals). Most of these species are especially close to extinction because they consist of fewer than 250 individuals. In most cases, those few individuals are scattered through several small populations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pnas.org/content/117/24/13596/tab-figures-data">Ceballos et al, 2020.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What to protect next</h2>
<p>The Global Deal for Nature provided a framework for the milestones, targets and policies across terrestrial, freshwater and marine realms required to conserve the vast majority of life on Earth. Yet it didn’t specify where exactly these safeguards were needed. That’s where the new Global Safety Net comes in.</p>
<p>We analyzed unprotected terrestrial areas that, if protected, could sequester carbon and conserve biodiversity as effectively as the 15% of terrestrial areas that are currently protected. Through this analysis, we identified an additional 35% of unprotected lands for conservation, bringing the total percentage of protected nature to 50%. </p>
<p>By setting aside half of Earth’s lands for nature, nations can save our planet’s rich biodiversity, prevent future pandemics and meet the Paris climate target of keeping warming in this century below less than 2.7 degrees F (1.5 degrees C). To meet these goals, 20 countries must contribute disproportionately. Much of the responsibility falls to Russia, the U.S., Brazil, Indonesia, Canada, Australia and China. Why? Because these countries contain massive tracts of land needed to reach the dual goals of reducing climate change and saving biodiversity.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"998906168440512512"}"></div></p>
<h2>Supporting Indigenous communities</h2>
<p>Indigenous peoples make up less than 5% of the total human population, yet they manage or have tenure rights <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0100-6">over a quarter of the world’s land surface</a>, representing close to 80% of our planet’s biodiversity. One of our key findings is that 37% of the proposed lands for increased protection overlap with Indigenous lands. </p>
<p>As the world edges closer towards a <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-mass-extinction-and-are-we-in-one-now-122535">sixth mass extinction</a>, Indigenous communities stand to lose the most. Forest loss, ecotourism and devastation wrought by climate change have already displaced Indigenous peoples from their traditional territories at unprecedented rates. Now one of the deadliest pandemics in recent history poses an <a href="https://theconversation.com/judge-orders-brazil-to-protect-indigenous-people-from-ravages-of-covid-19-142356">even graver additional threat</a> to Indigenous lives and livelihoods. </p>
<p>To address and alleviate human rights questions, social justice issues and conservation challenges, the Global Safety Net calls for better protection for Indigenous communities. We believe our goals are achievable by upholding existing land tenure rights, addressing Indigenous land claims, and carrying out supportive ecological management programs with indigenous peoples.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CEUYvv_hcab","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>Preventing future pandemics</h2>
<p>Tropical deforestation increases forest edges – areas where forests meet human habitats. These areas greatly increase the potential for contact between humans and animal vectors that serve as viral hosts. </p>
<p>For instance, the latest research shows that the SARS-CoV-2 virus <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-020-0771-4">originated and evolved naturally in horseshoe bats</a>, most likely <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abb9153">incubated in pangolins</a>, and then spread to humans <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-02052-7">via the wildlife trade</a>.</p>
<p>The Global Safety Net’s policy milestones and targets would reduce the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-coronavirus-emerged-from-the-global-wildlife-trade-and-may-be-devastating-enough-to-end-it-133333">illegal wildlife trade and associated wildlife markets</a> – two known sources of zoonotic diseases. Reducing contact zones between animals and humans can decrease the chances of future zoonotic spillovers from occurring. </p>
<p>Our framework also envisions the creation of a Pandemic Prevention Program, which would increase protections for natural habitats at high risk for human-animal interactions. Protecting wildlife in these areas could also reduce the potential for more catastrophic outbreaks.</p>
<h2>Nature-based solutions</h2>
<p>Achieving the Global Safety Net’s goals will require nature-based solutions – strategies that protect, manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems while providing co-benefits to both people and nature. They are low-cost and readily available today.</p>
<p>The nature-based solutions that we spotlight include:
- Identifying biodiverse non-agricultural lands, particularly prevalent in tropical and sub-tropical regions, for increased conservation attention.
- Prioritizing ecoregions that optimize carbon storage and drawdown, such as the Amazon and Congo basins.
- Aiding species movement and adaptation across ecosystems by creating a comprehensive system of <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-climate-corridors-help-species-adapt-to-warming-world-61190">wildlife and climate corridors</a>. </p>
<p>We estimate that an increase of just 2.3% more land in the right places could save our planet’s rarest plant and animal species within five years.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ttiI1dGxbxM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Wildlife corridors connect fragmented wild spaces, providing wild animals the space they need to survive.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Leveraging technology for conservation</h2>
<p>In the Global Safety Net study, we identified 50 ecoregions where additional conservation attention is most needed to meet the Global Deal for Nature’s targets, and 20 countries that must assume greater responsibility for protecting critical places. We mapped an additional 35% of terrestrial lands that play a critical role in reversing biodiversity loss, enhancing natural carbon removal and preventing further greenhouse gas emissions from land conversion.</p>
<p>But as climate change accelerates, it may scramble those priorities. Staying ahead of the game will require a satellite-driven monitoring system with the capability of tracking real-time land use changes on a global scale. These continuously updated maps would enable dynamic analyses to help sharpen conservation planning and help decision-making.</p>
<p>As director of the <a href="https://gdcs.asu.edu/">Arizona State University Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science</a>, I lead the development of new technologies that assess and monitor imminent ecological threats, such as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/10/science/coral-reefs-mapping-biodiversity.html">coral reef bleaching events</a> and <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/low-cost-satellite-forest-monitoring-for-all-qa-with-claslite-creator-greg-asner/">illegal deforestation</a>, as well as progress made toward responding to ecological emergencies. Along with colleagues from other research institutions who are advancing this kind of research, I’m confident that it is possible to develop a global nature monitoring program.</p>
<p>The Global Safety Net pinpoints locations around the globe that must be protected to slow climate change and species loss. And the science shows that there is no time to lose.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144908/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Greg Asner receives funding from the Avatar Alliance Foundation, Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Morgan Family Foundation, Packard Foundation, and visionary individual donors.</span></em></p>A new plan targets areas around the world that can store carbon and protect large numbers of species. It calls for preserving these lands, working with Indigenous peoples and connecting wild areas.Greg Asner, Director, Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science and Professor, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1320872020-02-19T18:59:25Z2020-02-19T18:59:25ZI made bushfire maps from satellite data, and found a glaring gap in Australia’s preparedness<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316075/original/file-20200219-11044-6tjnbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=57%2C0%2C2494%2C1184&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image courtesy of Greg Harvie</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On the night of January 9 2020, my wife and I secured our Kangaroo Island home and anxiously monitored the South Australian <a href="http://www.cfs.sa.gov.au/">Country Fire Service (CFS) website</a> for bushfire advice. </p>
<p>After many horrific weeks of bushfires, the winds had again shifted, and the fire front began a slow, nightmarish march eastward into the island’s central farmlands. Official warnings advised that the entire island was potentially under threat.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316070/original/file-20200219-11000-18pw4af.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=36%2C0%2C4788%2C2800&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316070/original/file-20200219-11000-18pw4af.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=36%2C0%2C4788%2C2800&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316070/original/file-20200219-11000-18pw4af.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316070/original/file-20200219-11000-18pw4af.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316070/original/file-20200219-11000-18pw4af.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316070/original/file-20200219-11000-18pw4af.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316070/original/file-20200219-11000-18pw4af.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316070/original/file-20200219-11000-18pw4af.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Landsat-8 false colour image of southwest Kangaroo Island, showing active bushfires on January 9, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Landsat-8</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As my good neighbours and volunteer firefighters headed off to battle the flames elsewhere on the island, I desperately wanted to find a way to help. With no firefighting training, I felt I physically had little to offer. But I reasoned that my skills and training in remote sensing and spatial science could potentially turn satellite information into useful maps to track the fires, in more detail than those provided by the Country Fire Service and <a href="https://sentinel.ga.gov.au/#/">Geoscience Australia</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/this-crisis-has-been-unfolding-for-years-4-photos-of-australia-from-space-before-and-after-the-bushfires-129450">'This crisis has been unfolding for years': 4 photos of Australia from space, before and after the bushfires</a>
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<p>While I was ultimately successful, it wasn’t quite as straightforward as I thought. And what I learned about access to good-quality and up-to-date satellite bushfire information surprised me.</p>
<h2>Free satellite imagery is abundant; useful information is not</h2>
<p>In principle, there are many good sources of free satellite imagery. But selecting, sourcing, understanding and processing a multilayered satellite image into an accurate burnt area map takes technical know-how that is beyond the reach of the people who need it the most. </p>
<p>We are fortunate to live in a time where satellite images are constantly uploaded to the web, often within hours of acquisition. There are many reputable sources for this information, including <a href="https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov/">NASA Worldview</a>, <a href="https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/">USGS Earth Explorer</a>, <a href="https://landlook.usgs.gov/">USGS LandLook Viewer</a>, and the <a href="https://apps.sentinel-hub.com/eo-browser">Sentinel EO Browser</a>.</p>
<p>These websites are gateways to the world of “big satellite data”, and I quickly found myself on a steep learning curve to efficiently navigate them and find recent imagery.</p>
<p>Once downloaded, the next hurdle I faced was how to process a data-rich satellite image into a meaningful and accurate map of the bushfire area. I scoured the internet for “how to” blogs, academic articles, spatial algorithms, and processing codes; these too are the products of much intellectual investment by global scientists, openly and freely available. </p>
<p>As a spatial scientist, I naturally found all this fascinating. But as a resident of an island under assault from bushfires, I also found it frustratingly time-consuming. I crashed my computer testing algorithms. I maxed out my hard drive. I spent hours on possibilities that turned out to be dead ends.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316071/original/file-20200219-11017-129dntk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316071/original/file-20200219-11017-129dntk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316071/original/file-20200219-11017-129dntk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316071/original/file-20200219-11017-129dntk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316071/original/file-20200219-11017-129dntk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316071/original/file-20200219-11017-129dntk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316071/original/file-20200219-11017-129dntk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316071/original/file-20200219-11017-129dntk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">True colour satellite imagery is often the most accessible and easily understood, but it often lacks sufficient detail to clearly identify burnt areas. In this Sentinel-2 true colour image, approximately 210,000 hectares are burnt, but bushfire-impacted areas are barely visible without advanced image processing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sentinel-2</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Maps help to fight fires and recover from them</h2>
<p>In the end, I produced <a href="https://blogs.adelaide.edu.au/environment/2020/02/19/researchers-kangaroo-island-fire-maps/">burnt area maps</a> from Sentinel and Landsat satellite images captured during the fires. I learned that this kind of information can indeed help firefighting and ecological recovery efforts, both during and after bushfires.</p>
<p>Initially I gave the maps to a group of farming friends who had been fighting fires around their properties for weeks. They told me the maps helped save time in assessing which areas had already burned, allowing them to focus on defending unburnt areas, and to make decisions on where to move livestock and install firebreaks.</p>
<p>The positive feedback inspired me to customise my processing techniques, so I could provide updates more quickly when new satellite images became available. </p>
<p>I embedded appropriate safety disclaimers into the maps and released them on Twitter and <a href="http://www.spatialpoints.com/category/blog/ki_fires/">Spatial Points</a>, a blog site managed by my research group at the University of Adelaide. </p>
<p>Within hours, I received messages that the maps were being used for ecological recovery efforts. The maps successfully highlighted remaining patches of habitat where endangered and vulnerable species had found refuge. Several government agencies even contacted me for burnt area information, which I’m told was used to assess infrastructure damage and habitat loss.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316073/original/file-20200219-11023-gxgogg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316073/original/file-20200219-11023-gxgogg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316073/original/file-20200219-11023-gxgogg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316073/original/file-20200219-11023-gxgogg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316073/original/file-20200219-11023-gxgogg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316073/original/file-20200219-11023-gxgogg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316073/original/file-20200219-11023-gxgogg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316073/original/file-20200219-11023-gxgogg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Processed Sentinel-2 satellite image. Red areas suggest burnt vegetation. Variation in red hues are caused by dominant vegetation type and soils.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sentinel-2/W. Boone Law</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>National knowledge gap</h2>
<p>My experience shows there is a swag of free and regularly updated satellite imagery available, which when interpreted and presented appropriately can potentially be hugely helpful to firefighting and recovery efforts. </p>
<p>However, I am concerned that neither the general public nor decision-makers seem fully aware of the range of satellite information on offer. Nor is there a good understanding of the advanced technical skills needed to access and process imagery into useful map data.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-the-australian-bush-is-recovering-from-bushfires-but-it-may-never-be-the-same-131390">Yes, the Australian bush is recovering from bushfires – but it may never be the same</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This leads me to wonder whether I have stumbled upon a glaring knowledge gap in Australia’s bushfire preparedness.</p>
<p>How can we overcome this technological and information bottleneck? I don’t propose to have all the answers, but I do believe it would be sensible for governments, industry and research agencies to invest in the kind of capabilities that I developed while trying to protect my own local community. </p>
<p>As Australia faces a future of more frequent and extreme bushfires, there will doubtless be many people who would be glad of this kind of information when they need it most.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132087/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A scientist whose Kangaroo Island home was threatened by the summer’s bushfires says there is a ‘knowledge gap’ between satellite data and useful maps that can protect communities.Wallace Boone Law, PhD Candidate, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1278022020-01-05T18:51:00Z2020-01-05T18:51:00ZAs Digital Earth gains momentum, China is setting the pace<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307077/original/file-20191216-124016-1961b95.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C320%2C2963%2C2331&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A section of Beijing Daxing International Airport from the first 3D images released by China National Space Administration using data from the recently launched Gaofen-7 Earth observation satellite, which can resolve objects less than a metre wide. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">China National Space Administration/Xinhua</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Al Gore’s 1992 <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=FYfcAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA358&dq=%22I+have+proposed+something+called+the+Digital+Earth+program%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiXtP-mwLHmAhWFoOkKHYYlDP8Q6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=%22I%20have%20proposed%20something%20called%20the%20Digital%20Earth%20program%22&f=false">forecast of a Digital Earth</a> — where satellites beam data to reveal all the planet’s environmental dynamics – has gained momentum with the publication of the <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789813299146">Manual of Digital Earth</a> last month. The major anthology is sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It’s a mark of the importance China attaches to what is now a United Nations-led project named the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (<a href="https://www.earthobservations.org/geoss.php">GEOSS</a>). </p>
<p>GEOSS seems like medical science’s worldwide collaborations to map the human genome and the human brain – but at a much bigger magnitude. Scientists want to data-visualise the whole Earth. The project’s scope ranges from deep subterranean core samples, volcanic tremors, ocean surface temperatures, flooding and solar storms to urban populations, migrations and sprawls. </p>
<p>A recent Australian contribution to the Digital Earth vision is the online mapping of bushfires. This includes the <a href="https://hotspots.dea.ga.gov.au/">Digital Earth Australia Hotspots</a> map run by Geoscience Australia and the New South Wales Rural Fire Service’s <a href="https://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=2168b5162d61432c8b3499818a2d60df&fbclid=IwAR3uWehKIISo83xTGFRKCVbvwa7jPKkJ_7n5BhfGyW9KL2gjBMHttFpdsRA">Fire Map</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/digital-earth-the-paradigm-now-shaping-our-worlds-data-cities-104938">Digital Earth: the paradigm now shaping our world's data cities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>GEOSS began operating in 2005 (the same year as Google Earth) and is accelerating with the <a href="https://www.gislounge.com/mapping-through-the-ages/">most tumultuous technology revolution in the history of cartography</a>. It goes way beyond the satellite mapping we see on TV weather reports. And it relies on the grid of globally networked computers to access and crunch massive lakes and banks of geotagged data stored in high-security bunkers. </p>
<h2>China’s digital ‘religion’</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306757/original/file-20191213-85428-1nqu9bv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306757/original/file-20191213-85428-1nqu9bv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306757/original/file-20191213-85428-1nqu9bv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306757/original/file-20191213-85428-1nqu9bv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306757/original/file-20191213-85428-1nqu9bv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306757/original/file-20191213-85428-1nqu9bv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306757/original/file-20191213-85428-1nqu9bv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306757/original/file-20191213-85428-1nqu9bv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Huadong Guo of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is honorary president of the International Society for Digital Earth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>China’s support for the Digital Earth and GEOSS movement has become entwined with its foreign policy. Chinese authors wrote many papers in the 26-chapter manual. And the Chinese Academy of Sciences operates the secretariat and journal of the <a href="http://www.digitalearth-isde.org/">International Society for Digital Earth</a> (ISDE). </p>
<p>Recent ISDE conferences have included invitation-only workshops on how to evolve China’s <a href="http://www.dbeltroad.org/">Digital Belt and Road</a> program. It’s the high-tech aspect of China’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_and_Road_Initiative">Belt and Road Initiative</a> to expand its historical Silk Road trading links. China’s map of <a href="https://reconnectingasia.csis.org/analysis/entries/traveling-60000km-across-chinas-belt-and-road/">desired international paths and connections</a> now includes non-Silk Road destinations, including the Malaysian peninsula, Ukraine, Germany, England, Portugal and Morocco. </p>
<p>A Geneva-based Australian pioneer of supercomputing and environmental simulations, Bob Bishop, welcomed the Manual of Digital Earth. He suggested to me it “somewhat proves” that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the religion of China in the 21st century is ‘science’ and their particular denomination is ‘digital’. China made Buddhism universal by documenting a previously oral philosophy coming from India. It seems China could make Digital Earth universal by documenting fragmented ideas coming from the US and the rest of the world.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The manual explains, in more than 250,000 illustrated words, what has been done, and what needs to be done, to develop different parts of Gore’s vast ambition.
Science now has all the basic capabilities to deliver a GEOSS/Digital Earth. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li>grid computing</li>
<li>ubiquitous sensors to monitor environmental variables</li>
<li>machine learning and robotics to automate processes</li>
<li>good expertise with remote sensing data and imagery</li>
<li>broadband networks to enable citizen scientists to add and access information</li>
<li>international protocols and standards for writing, using and storing metadata and for exchanging data across different hardware and software systems.</li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306747/original/file-20191213-85386-1lmy2zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306747/original/file-20191213-85386-1lmy2zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306747/original/file-20191213-85386-1lmy2zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306747/original/file-20191213-85386-1lmy2zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306747/original/file-20191213-85386-1lmy2zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306747/original/file-20191213-85386-1lmy2zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306747/original/file-20191213-85386-1lmy2zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The vision of Digital Earth that Al Gore first proposed in 1992 is becoming a reality.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthew Conboy/Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Challenges remain</h2>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-planners-new-best-friend-we-can-now-track-land-use-changes-on-a-scale-of-centimetres-53493">The planner's new best friend: we can now track land-use changes on a scale of centimetres</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306755/original/file-20191213-85381-7rmtbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306755/original/file-20191213-85381-7rmtbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306755/original/file-20191213-85381-7rmtbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306755/original/file-20191213-85381-7rmtbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306755/original/file-20191213-85381-7rmtbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306755/original/file-20191213-85381-7rmtbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306755/original/file-20191213-85381-7rmtbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306755/original/file-20191213-85381-7rmtbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bob Bishop has pointed out the scale of the challenge of processing and storing data on such a scale.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More questionable is whether there is enough processing speed and data-storage capacity to deliver the vision yet. Bishop has <a href="http://www.icesfoundation.org/Pages/CustomPage.aspx?ID=169">suggested</a> we probably will need to look beyond still-nascent quantum computing to far-ahead <a href="https://qbi.uq.edu.au/brain/intelligent-machines/brains-chip-neuromorphic-computing">neuromorphic engineering</a> (imitating the human nervous system at a very large scale) to evolve an effective sim-planet system. That’s because, as Gore predicted, vast amounts of environmental data will need to be processed in real time.</p>
<p>The intergovernmental <a href="https://www.earthobservations.org/index.php">Group on Earth Observations</a> (GEO) secretariat in the World Meteorological Organisation tower on the UN campus in Geneva is co-ordinating GEOSS. Leading space, meteorological, geoscience, surveying and UN technical agencies are among its more than 200 member organisations. </p>
<p>The Manual of Digital Earth is the world’s first comprehensive book of scholarly papers about Digital Earth/GEOSS theories, technologies, advances and applications. (It builds on a 2013 GEO-sponsored <a href="http://www.dcitynetwork.net/manifesto">report</a> edited by ISDE members.)</p>
<p>The book summarises recent advances and the current status of many relevant technologies. It highlights the challenge of how to smoothly transition scales during continuous zooming. It also discusses applications (including climate change, disaster mitigation and the <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/">UN Sustainable Development Goals</a>); regional and national development (in Europe, Russia, China and Australia); and education and ethics.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/collecting-satellite-data-australia-wants-a-new-direction-for-earth-observation-84678">Collecting satellite data Australia wants: a new direction for Earth observation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Who’s who in Digital Earth studies?</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306804/original/file-20191213-85412-1jon18k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306804/original/file-20191213-85412-1jon18k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306804/original/file-20191213-85412-1jon18k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306804/original/file-20191213-85412-1jon18k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306804/original/file-20191213-85412-1jon18k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306804/original/file-20191213-85412-1jon18k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306804/original/file-20191213-85412-1jon18k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306804/original/file-20191213-85412-1jon18k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">ISDE founder Michael Goodchild has authored some of its most influential papers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More than 100 experts from 18 countries contributed to the anthology. It was edited by three leaders of the International Society for Digital Earth: Huadong Guo of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who is a professor at its <a href="http://english.radi.cas.cn/">Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth</a> (RADI); Michael F. Goodchild, emeritus professor of geography at the University of California Santa Barbara; and Alessandro Annoni, head of the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/research-topic/digital-economy">Digital Economy Unit</a> at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306761/original/file-20191213-85397-11an8ez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306761/original/file-20191213-85397-11an8ez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306761/original/file-20191213-85397-11an8ez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306761/original/file-20191213-85397-11an8ez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306761/original/file-20191213-85397-11an8ez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306761/original/file-20191213-85397-11an8ez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306761/original/file-20191213-85397-11an8ez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306761/original/file-20191213-85397-11an8ez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">ISDE president Alessandro Annoni co-authored a European Union report that urged Europe and the US to keep up with China’s high-tech ambitions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Annoni is the ISDE’s president, Guo is the honorary president and Goodchild is an ISDE founder and a lead author of its most influential papers – including a next-generation Digital Earth <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/109/28/11088">vision statement</a> in 2012. </p>
<p>The ISDE secretariat is based at the RADI in Beijing, although its presidents and senior members work in various countries. It’s closely involved with the GEOSS in Europe and with the UN’s <a href="https://ggim.un.org/">Global Geospatial Information Management</a> group in New York. </p>
<p>A 2019 European Union report, <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/china-challenges-and-prospects-industrial-and-innovation-powerhouse">China: Challenges and Prospects from an Industrial and Innovation Powerhouse</a>, examined China’s escalating industrial capabilities and international ambitions. Annoni and other senior European policy leaders were authors. The report said Europe and the United States needed to boost their industrial, research and innovation performances to compete with China in key high-tech sectors.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127802/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Davina Jackson is an honorary life member of the International Society for Digital Earth and co-edited the Digital City chapter of the DE Manual. She edited the GEO-sponsored report D_City: Digital Earth | Virtual Nations | Data Cities (2012-14).
</span></em></p>China has embraced the concept of Digital Earth – the use of data from satellites to create a visual map of what’s happening at every point on the planet – and is now a key player in making it happen.Davina Jackson, Honorary Academic, School of Architecture, University of KentLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1175052019-05-22T19:48:47Z2019-05-22T19:48:47ZEastern China pinpointed as source of rogue ozone-depleting emissions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275565/original/file-20190521-23823-1inywjw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sunset at Australia's Cape Grim observatory, one of the key global background monitoring sites for CFC-11. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Krummel/CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A mysterious rebound in the emissions of ozone-depleting chemicals – despite a global ban stretching back almost a decade – has been traced to eastern China.</p>
<p>Research <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1193-4">published by an international team today in Nature</a> used a global network of monitoring stations to pinpoint the source of the rogue emissions. According to these data, 40-60% of the increase in emissions seen since 2013 is due to possibly illegal industrial activity in the Chinese provinces of Shandong and Hebei. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/after-30-years-of-the-montreal-protocol-the-ozone-layer-is-gradually-healing-84051">After 30 years of the Montreal Protocol, the ozone layer is gradually healing</a>
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</em>
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<p>Chlorofluorocarbon-11 (CFC-11) is a powerful ozone-depleting chemical that plays a major role in the appearance, each spring, of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-the-antarctic-ozone-hole-and-how-is-it-made-9202">ozone “hole”</a> over Antarctica. </p>
<p>In the past, CFC-11 had been used primarily as a propellant in aerosol products and as a foam plastic blowing agent. The production and consumption (use) of CFC-11 are controlled by the global <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-30-years-of-the-montreal-protocol-the-ozone-layer-is-gradually-healing-84051">Montreal Protocol</a>. CFC-11 consumption has been banned in developed countries since 1996, and worldwide since 2010.</p>
<p>This has resulted in a significant decline of CFC-11 in the atmosphere. Long-term CFC-11 measurements at <a href="https://theconversation.com/forty-years-of-measuring-the-worlds-cleanest-air-reveals-human-fingerprints-on-the-atmosphere-68489">Cape Grim</a>, Tasmania, show the amount in the atmosphere peaked in 1994, and fell 14% by 2018. </p>
<p>However, this decline has not been as rapid as expected under the global zero production and consumption mandated by the Montreal Protocol since 2010. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275560/original/file-20190521-23838-8008qt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275560/original/file-20190521-23838-8008qt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=257&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275560/original/file-20190521-23838-8008qt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=257&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275560/original/file-20190521-23838-8008qt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=257&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275560/original/file-20190521-23838-8008qt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275560/original/file-20190521-23838-8008qt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275560/original/file-20190521-23838-8008qt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Background levels of CFC-11 measured at Australia’s Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station, located at the north-west tip of Tasmania.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO/Bureau of Meteorology</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2013GL059099">2014 study</a> was the first to deduce that global emissions of CFC-11 stopped declining in 2002. In 2015, <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/protection/ozone/publications/australian-global-emissions-ods-2015">CSIRO scientists</a> advised the Australian government, based on measurements compiled by the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (<a href="https://agage.mit.edu/">AGAGE</a>), which includes those from Cape Grim, that emissions had risen significantly since 2011. The cause of this rebound in CFC-11 emissions was a mystery.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275561/original/file-20190521-23814-gffijy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275561/original/file-20190521-23814-gffijy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275561/original/file-20190521-23814-gffijy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275561/original/file-20190521-23814-gffijy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275561/original/file-20190521-23814-gffijy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275561/original/file-20190521-23814-gffijy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275561/original/file-20190521-23814-gffijy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Global CFC-11 emissions based on atmospheric measurements compared with the expected decline of this compound in the atmosphere if compliance with the Montreal Protocol was adhered to.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO/AGAGE</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An initial explanation came in 2018, when researchers led by Stephen Montzka of the <a href="https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/">US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> analysed the CFC-11 data collected weekly at <a href="https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/obop/mlo/">Mauna Loa</a>, Hawaii. They <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0106-2">deduced</a> that the increased emissions originated largely from East Asia – likely as a result of new, illegal production. </p>
<p>Montzka’s team concluded that if these increased CFC-11 emissions continued, the closure of the Antarctic ozone hole could be delayed, <a href="https://library.wmo.int/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=20763#.XONRycgzbg5">possibly for decades</a>. This was a remarkable piece of detective work, considering that Mauna Loa is more than 8,000km from East Asia. </p>
<h2>Suspicions confirmed</h2>
<p>A still more detailed explanation is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1193-4">published today in the journal Nature</a> by an international research team led by Matt Rigby of the University of Bristol, UK, and Sunyoung Park of Kyungpook National University, South Korea, together with colleagues from Japan, the United States, Australia and Switzerland. The new study uses data collected every two hours by the AGAGE global monitoring network, including data from Gosan, South Korea, and from an AGAGE-affiliated station at Hateruma, Japan. Crucially, Gosan and Hateruma are just 1,000km and 2,000km, respectively, from the suspected epicentre of CFC-11 emissions in East Asia. </p>
<p>The Korean and Japanese data show that these new emissions of CFC-11 do indeed come from eastern China – in particular the provinces of Shandong and Hebei – and that they have increased by around 7,000 tonnes per year since 2013. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the rest of the AGAGE network has detected no evidence of increasing CFC-11 emissions elsewhere around the world, including in North America, Europe, Japan, Korea or Australia.</p>
<p>Yet while this new study has accounted for roughly half of the recent global emissions rise, it is possible that smaller increases have also taken place in other countries, or even in other parts of China, not covered by the AGAGE network. There are large swathes of the globe for which we have very little detailed information on CFC emissions.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275615/original/file-20190521-23829-v2xb01.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275615/original/file-20190521-23829-v2xb01.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275615/original/file-20190521-23829-v2xb01.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275615/original/file-20190521-23829-v2xb01.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275615/original/file-20190521-23829-v2xb01.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=791&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275615/original/file-20190521-23829-v2xb01.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=791&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275615/original/file-20190521-23829-v2xb01.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=791&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Map showing the region where the increased CFC-11 emissions came from, based on atmospheric measurements and modelling.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">University of Bristol/CSIRO</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nevertheless, this study represents an important milestone in atmospheric scientists’ ability to tell which regions are emitting ozone-depleting substances and in what quantities. It is now vital we find out which industries are responsible for these new emissions. </p>
<p>If the emissions are due to the manufacture and use of products such as foams, it is possible that, so far, we have seen in the atmosphere only a fraction of the total amount of CFC-11 that was produced illegally. The remainder could be locked up in buildings and chillers, and will ultimately be released to the atmosphere over the coming decades.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-the-antarctic-ozone-hole-and-how-is-it-made-9202">Explainer: what is the Antarctic ozone hole and how is it made?</a>
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</em>
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<p>While our new study cannot determine which industry or industries are responsible, it does provide strong evidence that substantial new emissions of CFC-11 have occurred from China. Chinese authorities have <a href="http://multilateralfund.org/83/English/1/8311a1.pdf">identified, and closed down, some illegal production facilities</a> over the past several years. </p>
<p>This study highlights the importance of undertaking long-term measurements of trace gases like CFC-11 to verify that international treaties and protocols are working. It also identifies shortcomings in the global networks for detecting regional emissions of ozone depleting substances. This should encourage expansion of these vital measurement networks which would lead to a capability of more rapid identification of future emission transgressions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117505/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Krummel is employed by CSIRO and receives funding from MIT, NASA, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Department of the Environment and Energy, and Refrigerant Reclaim Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bronwyn Dunse is employed by CSIRO and receives funding from Department of the Environment and Energy, Australian Bureau of Meteorology and Refrigerant Reclaim Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nada Derek is employed by CSIRO and receives funding from Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Department of the Environment and Energy, MIT, NASA and Refrigerant Reclaim Australia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Fraser received past funding and current funding from from United Nations, Bureau of Meteorology, Department of Environment and Energy, NASA, Refrigerant Reclaim Australia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Steele received past funding from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, and NASA.</span></em></p>For several years, emissions of CFCs have been rising, in apparent defiance of a global ban in place since 2010. A new global detective effort has traced the source to two eastern Chinese provinces.Paul Krummel, Research Group Leader, CSIROBronwyn Dunse, Climate Science Centre, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, CSIRONada Derek, Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, CSIROPaul Fraser, Honorary Fellow, CSIROPaul Steele, Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1155572019-04-19T18:07:33Z2019-04-19T18:07:33ZTo solve climate change and biodiversity loss, we need a Global Deal for Nature<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270085/original/file-20190418-28097-1ua211e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An aerial photo of Borneo shows deforestation and patches of remaining forest.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Greg Asner</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Earth’s cornucopia of life has evolved over 550 million years. Along the way, five mass extinction events have caused serious setbacks to life on our planet. The fifth, which was caused by a gargantuan meteorite impact along Mexico’s Yucatan coast, changed Earth’s climate, <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-bad-news-for-dinosaurs-chicxulub-meteorite-impact-triggered-global-volcanic-eruptions-on-the-ocean-floor-91053">took out the dinosaurs</a> and altered the course of biological evolution.</p>
<p>Today nature is suffering accelerating losses so great that many scientists say <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction">a sixth mass extinction is underway</a>. Unlike past mass extinctions, this event is driven by human actions that are dismantling and disrupting natural ecosystems and changing Earth’s climate. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sPyLa9oAAAAJ&hl=en">My research</a> focuses on ecosystems and climate change from regional to global scales. In a new study titled “<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw2869">A Global Deal for Nature</a>,” led by conservation biologist and strategist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=IO_pazEAAAAJ&hl=en">Eric Dinerstein</a>, 17 colleagues and I lay out a road map for simultaneously averting a sixth mass extinction and reducing climate change. </p>
<p>We chart a course for immediately protecting at least 30% of Earth’s surface to put the brakes on rapid biodiversity loss, and then add another 20% comprising ecosystems that can suck disproportionately large amounts of carbon out of the atmosphere. In our view, biodiversity loss and climate change must be addressed as one interconnected problem with linked solutions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270128/original/file-20190419-191664-9fccxu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270128/original/file-20190419-191664-9fccxu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270128/original/file-20190419-191664-9fccxu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270128/original/file-20190419-191664-9fccxu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270128/original/file-20190419-191664-9fccxu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270128/original/file-20190419-191664-9fccxu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270128/original/file-20190419-191664-9fccxu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270128/original/file-20190419-191664-9fccxu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">International Union for the Conservation of Nature status ratings for assessed species (EW – extinct in the wild; CR – critically endangered; EN – endangered; VU – vulnerable; NT – near threatened; DD – data deficient; LC – least concern). Many species have not yet been assessed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/resources/summary-statistics">IUCN</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Let’s make a deal</h2>
<p>Our Global Deal for Nature is based on a map of about a thousand “ecoregions” on land and sea, which we delineated based on an internationally growing body of research. Each of them contains a unique ensemble of species and ecosystems, and they play complementary roles in curbing climate change. </p>
<p>Natural ecosystems are like mutual funds in an otherwise volatile stock market. They contain self-regulating webs of organisms that interact. For example, tropical forests contain a kaleidoscope of tree species that are packed together, maximizing carbon storage in wood and soils. </p>
<p>Forests can weather natural disasters and catastrophic disease outbreaks because they are diverse portfolios of biological responses, self-managed by and among co-existing species. It’s hard to crash them if they are left alone to do their thing. </p>
<p>Man-made ecosystems are poor substitutes for their natural counterparts. For example, tree plantations are not forest ecosystems – they are crops of trees that <a href="http://dx.doi.org/%2010.1126/science.aam5962">store far less carbon than natural forests</a>, and require much more upkeep. Plantations are also ghost towns compared to the complex biodiversity found in natural forests.</p>
<p>Another important feature of natural ecosystems is that they are connected and influence one another. Consider coral reefs, which are central to the Global Deal for Nature because they store carbon and are hotspots for biodiversity. But that’s not their only value: They also protect coasts from storm surge, supporting inland mangroves and coastal grasslands that are mega-storage vaults for carbon and homes for large numbers of species. If one ecosystem is lost, risk to the others rises dramatically. Connectivity matters.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270151/original/file-20190419-28113-8jczhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270151/original/file-20190419-28113-8jczhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270151/original/file-20190419-28113-8jczhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270151/original/file-20190419-28113-8jczhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270151/original/file-20190419-28113-8jczhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270151/original/file-20190419-28113-8jczhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270151/original/file-20190419-28113-8jczhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Reef-scale coral bleaching in the Hawaiian Islands, 2016. Warming oceans are causing repeated coral bleaching events, threatening reefs worldwide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Greg Asner</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>The idea of conserving large swaths of the planet to preserve biodiversity is not new. Many distinguished experts have endorsed the idea of <a href="https://books.wwnorton.com/books/Half-Earth/">setting aside half the surface of the Earth</a> to protect biodiversity. The Global Deal for Nature greatly advances this idea by specifying the amounts, places and types of protections needed to get this effort moving in the right direction. </p>
<h2>Building on the Paris Agreement</h2>
<p>We designed our study to serve as guidance that governments can use in a planning process, similar to the climate change negotiations that led to the 2015 Paris Agreement. The Paris accord, which <a href="https://unfccc.int/process/the-paris-agreement/status-of-ratification">197 nations have signed</a>, sets global targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, provides a model for financial assistance to low-income countries and supports local and grassroots efforts worldwide. </p>
<p>But the Paris Agreement does not safeguard the diversity of life on Earth. Without a companion plan, we will lose the wealth of species that have taken millions of years to evolve and accumulate.</p>
<p>In fact, my colleagues and I believe the Paris Agreement cannot be met without simultaneously saving biodiversity. Here’s why: The most logical and cost-effective way to curb greenhouse gas emissions and remove gases from the atmosphere is by <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/forests-provide-critical-short-term-solution-climate-change">storing carbon in natural ecosystems</a>.</p>
<p>Forests, grasslands, peatlands, mangroves and a few other types of ecosystems pull the most carbon from the air per acre of land. Protecting and expanding their range is far more scalable and far less expensive than engineering the climate to slow the pace of warming. And there is no time to lose.</p>
<h2>Worth the cost</h2>
<p>What would it take to put a Global Deal for Nature into action? Land and marine protection costs money: Our plan would require a budget of some US$100 billion per year. This may sound like a lot, but for comparison, Silicon Valley companies earned <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/16/apples-app-store-revenue-nearly-double-that-of-google-play-in-first-half-of-2018/">nearly $60 billion in 2017 just from selling apps</a>. And the distributed cost is well within international reach. Today, however, our global society is spending less than a tenth of that amount to save Earth’s biodiversity. </p>
<p>Nations will also need new technology to assess and monitor progress and put biodiversity-saving actions to the test. Some ingredients needed for a global biodiversity monitoring system are now deployed, such as <a href="https://nas-sites.org/americasclimatechoices/2017-2027-decadal-survey-for-earth-science-and-applications-from-space/">basic satellites</a> that describe the general locations of forests and reefs. Others are only up and running at regional scales, such as <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/3/18166769/ai-cameras-conservation-africa-resolve-intel-elephants-serengeti">on-the-ground tracking systems</a> to detect animals and the people who poach them, and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaj1987">airborne biodiversity and carbon mapping technologies</a>.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">AsnerLab’s airborne observatory is mapping and monitoring species and carbon storage to bring the problems of biodiversity loss and climate change into focus.</span></figcaption>
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<p>But key components are still missing at the global scale, including technology that can analyze target ecosystems and species from Earth orbit, on high-flying aircraft and in the field to generate real-time knowledge about the changing state of life on our planet. The good news is that <a href="https://blog.ted.com/nature-revealed-biodiversity-in-3d-greg-asner-at-tedglobal-2013/">this type of technology exists</a>, and could be rapidly scaled up to create the first-ever global nature monitoring program. </p>
<p>Technology is the easier part of the challenge. Organizing human cooperation toward such a broad goal is much harder. But we believe the value of Earth’s biodiversity is far higher than the cost and effort needed to save it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115557/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Greg Asner receives funding from the Avatar Alliance Foundation, Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Morgan Family Foundation, Packard Foundation, and visionary individual donors.</span></em></p>A new study lays out a road map for protecting and restoring 50% of Earth’s surface, targeted to preserve biodiversity and maximize natural removal of carbon from the atmosphere.Greg Asner, Director, Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science and Professor, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1104932019-01-28T19:14:57Z2019-01-28T19:14:57ZTo predict droughts, don’t look at the skies. Look in the soil… from space<p>Another summer, another <a href="https://theconversation.com/government-to-set-up-new-multi-billion-future-drought-fund-105688">drought</a>. Sydney’s water storages are running on empty, and desalinisation plants are being <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-09/sydney-water-bills-on-verge-of-desalination-plant-increase/10701974">dusted off</a>. Elsewhere, shrunken rivers, lakes and dams are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/23/mass-fish-kill-strikes-at-lake-inverell-in-northern-nsw">swollen with rotting fish</a>. Governments, irrigators and environmentalists blame each other for the drought, or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/17/it-just-hasnt-rained-michael-mccormack-blames-drought-for-murray-darling-fish-kill">just blame it on nature</a>.</p>
<p>To be sure, Australia is large enough to usually leave some part of our country waiting for rain. So what exactly is a drought, and how do we know when we are in it? </p>
<p>This question matters, because declaring drought has practical implications. For example, it may entitle those affected to government assistance or <a href="https://theconversation.com/better-data-would-help-crack-the-drought-insurance-problem-106154">insurance pay-outs</a>.</p>
<p>But it is also a surprisingly difficult question. Droughts are not like other natural hazards. They are not a single extreme weather event, but the persistent lack of a quite common event: rain. What’s more, it’s not the lack of rain per se that ultimately affects us. The desert is a dry place but it cannot always be called in drought. </p>
<p>Ultimately, what matters are the impacts of drought: the damage to crops, pastures and environment; the uncontrollable fires that can take hold in dried-up forests and grasslands; the lack of water in dams and rivers that stops them from functioning. Each of these impacts is affected by more than just the amount of rain over an arbitrary number of months, and that makes defining drought difficult.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-australias-current-drought-caused-by-climate-change-its-complicated-97867">Is Australia's current drought caused by climate change? It's complicated</a>
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<p>Scientists and governments alike have been looking for ways to measure drought in a way that relates more closely to its impacts. Any farmer or gardener can tell you that you don’t need much rain, but you do need it at the right time. This is where the soil becomes really important, because it is where plants get their water. </p>
<p>Too much rain at once, and most of it is lost to runoff or disappears deep into the soil. That does not mean it is lost. Runoff helps fill our rivers and waterways. Water sinking deep into the soil can still be available to some plants. While our lawn withers, trees carry on as if there is nothing wrong. That’s because their roots dig further, reaching soil moisture that is buried deep.</p>
<p>A good start in defining and measuring drought would be to know how much soil moisture the vegetation can still get out of the soil. That is a very hard thing to do, because each crop, grass and tree has a different root system and grows in a different soil type, and the distribution of moisture below the surface is not easy to predict. Many dryland and irrigation farmers use soil sensors to measure how well their crops are doing, but this does not tell us much about the rest of the landscape, about the flammability of forests, or the condition of pastures.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255531/original/file-20190125-108342-1kfe9x6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255531/original/file-20190125-108342-1kfe9x6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255531/original/file-20190125-108342-1kfe9x6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255531/original/file-20190125-108342-1kfe9x6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255531/original/file-20190125-108342-1kfe9x6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255531/original/file-20190125-108342-1kfe9x6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255531/original/file-20190125-108342-1kfe9x6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Not knowing how drought conditions will develop, graziers face a difficult choice: sell their livestock or buy in feed?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>Soils and satellites</h2>
<p>As it turns out, you need to move further away to get closer to this problem – into space, to be precise. In our new research, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-08403-x">published in Nature Communications</a>, we show just how much satellite instruments can tell us about drought. </p>
<p>The satellite instruments have prosaic names such as SMOS and GRACE, but the way they measure water is mind-boggling. For example, the SMOS satellite unfurled a huge radio antenna in space to measure very specific radio waves emitted by the ground, and from it scientists can determine how much moisture is available in the topsoil. </p>
<p>Even more amazingly, GRACE (now replaced by GRACE Follow-On) was a pair of laser-guided satellites in a continuous high-speed chase around the Earth. By measuring the distance between each other with barely imaginable accuracy, they could measure miniscule changes in the Earth’s gravitational field caused by local increases or decreases in the amount of water below the surface. </p>
<p>By combining these data with a computer model that simulates the water cycle and plant growth, we created a detailed picture of the distribution of water below the surface.</p>
<p>It is a great example showing that space science is not just about galaxies and astronauts, but offers real insights and solutions by looking down at Earth. It also shows why having a strong Australian Space Agency is so important.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-lessons-we-need-to-learn-to-deal-with-the-creeping-disaster-of-drought-68172">The lessons we need to learn to deal with the 'creeping disaster' of drought</a>
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<p>Taking it a step further, we discovered that the satellite measurements even allowed us to predict how much longer the vegetation in a given region could continue growing before the soils run dry. In this way, we can predict drought impacts before they happen, sometimes more than four months in advance.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255520/original/file-20190125-108348-1jutumt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255520/original/file-20190125-108348-1jutumt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255520/original/file-20190125-108348-1jutumt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255520/original/file-20190125-108348-1jutumt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255520/original/file-20190125-108348-1jutumt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255520/original/file-20190125-108348-1jutumt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255520/original/file-20190125-108348-1jutumt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255520/original/file-20190125-108348-1jutumt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Map showing how many months ahead, on average, drought impacts can be predicted with good accuracy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">author provided</span></span>
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<p>This offers us a new way to look at drought prediction. Traditionally, we have looked up at the sky to predict droughts, but the weather has a short memory. Thanks to the influence of ocean currents, the Bureau of Meteorology can sometimes give us better-than-evens odds for the months ahead (for example, the next three months are <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/outlooks/#/rainfall/median/seasonal/0">not looking promising</a>), but these predictions are often very uncertain. </p>
<p>Our results show there is at least as much value in knowing how much water is left for plants to use as there is in guessing how much rain is on the way. By combining the two information sources we should be able to improve our predictions still further.</p>
<p>Many practical decisions hinge on an accurate assessment of drought risk. How many firefighters should be on call? Should I sow a crop in this paddock? Should we prepare for water restrictions? Should we budget for drought assistance? In future years, satellites keeping an eye on Earth will help us make these decisions with much more confidence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110493/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The research reported on here was funded through the Australian Research Council (project DP140103679). Albert Van Dijk receives or previously received research funding from the Australian and NSW Governments through various programmes and agencies, including the Bureau of Meteorology and Murray-Darling Basin Authority. </span></em></p>New satellite-based research shows there is at least as much value in knowing how much water is left for plants to use as there is in knowing how much rain may be on the way.Siyuan Tian, Postdoctoral fellow, Australian National UniversityAlbert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1049382019-01-01T19:48:58Z2019-01-01T19:48:58ZDigital Earth: the paradigm now shaping our world’s data cities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249184/original/file-20181206-128193-5ae42j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The vast amounts of data from more than 650 Earth observation satellites are transforming how we see and shape urban landscapes.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pitney Bowes Australia courtesy PSMA</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Today’s smart cities rely on networks: squillions of semiconductor devices that constantly pulse electromagnetic waves (light and radio frequencies) through telecommunications satellites.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250859/original/file-20181217-185240-1ww7oy3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250859/original/file-20181217-185240-1ww7oy3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250859/original/file-20181217-185240-1ww7oy3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250859/original/file-20181217-185240-1ww7oy3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250859/original/file-20181217-185240-1ww7oy3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250859/original/file-20181217-185240-1ww7oy3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250859/original/file-20181217-185240-1ww7oy3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250859/original/file-20181217-185240-1ww7oy3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Data Cities, by the author.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.lundhumphries.com/products/106796">Lund Humphries (2018)</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Another genre of satellites, equipped especially for Earth observations, is accelerating a more advanced form of urbanism: data cities. These realms are not only “smart and connected” but also increasingly responsive to electronic evidence revealing real situations and challenges.</p>
<p>In various <a href="http://davinajackson.com/publications/">publications</a> and a new book, <a href="http://data-cities.net/data-cities-book-out-november-2018/">Data Cities: How satellites are transforming architecture and design</a>, I explain how this century’s Earth observation science paradigm is destined to transform traditional practices among built environment professionals. That includes land surveyors, architects, engineers, landscape designers, property developers, builders and urban planners.</p>
<h2>How do all the satellite data affect urban design?</h2>
<p>In essence, much more detailed and accurate information about local environmental conditions will be supplied to development teams before new building concepts are designed. This should be more informative and less time-wasting than current routines. At present, planning authorities determine building proposals based on environmental impact assessment reports prepared <em>after</em> the design phase.</p>
<p>Architects and engineers already share the on-screen construction of <a href="https://www.autodesk.com/solutions/bim">building information models</a>. They should benefit from obtaining more site-specific information earlier than is now usual. This would allow them to calculate more useful parameters, and receive more accurate performance predictions, for their virtual buildings and landscapes.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Eduspace_EN/SEM7YN6SXIG_0.html">Earth observation satellites</a> carry sensor and scanner systems that bounce different signals to and from the Earth. These systems constantly monitor and display many environmental conditions that normally are invisible to humans.</p>
<p>Some innovations in sat-imaging include: the patterns of street lighting that reliably map different cities at night; thermo-imaging (infrared) of the surface temperatures and energy losses of buildings; and high-res overviews of areas affected by drought, flooding, fires, chemical spills, eruptions, wars and other disasters.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250853/original/file-20181217-185249-1kxuy8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250853/original/file-20181217-185249-1kxuy8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250853/original/file-20181217-185249-1kxuy8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250853/original/file-20181217-185249-1kxuy8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250853/original/file-20181217-185249-1kxuy8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250853/original/file-20181217-185249-1kxuy8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250853/original/file-20181217-185249-1kxuy8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250853/original/file-20181217-185249-1kxuy8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Earth observation has come a long way since this first photograph taken from space, on October 24 1946.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">White Sands Missile Range/Applied Physics Laboratory</span></span>
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<p>Earth observation satellites are not new. In 1946, a camera aboard a V-2 (aka A-4) missile launched from New Mexico took the <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/the-first-photograph-of-earth-taken-from-space">first picture of Earth from space</a>. The <a href="https://www.space.com/8186-weather-satellites-changed-world.html">first satellite weather map</a> was broadcast through small black-and-white television screens in 1960.</p>
<p>Today, more than 650 Earth observation satellites operate beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. Some orbit the planet to allow scanning in swathes. Others hold geostationary positions above specific places.</p>
<p>These satellites also operate at different distances from the Earth. And they carry different types of scanning and sensing equipment. As a result, they produce a diverse range of image resolutions, styles and scales of ground coverage.</p>
<p>The satellites record various kinds of environmental information, depending on which waves of the electromagnetic spectrum are used. These data are analysed and processed using precise algorithms. </p>
<p>A common example is data visualisations – often 2D or 3D video maps recorded over time. Typically, bright colours are applied to highlight contrasting conditions. For example, temperature data are colourised to show heat islands in cities. The same thing is done with aerosol data to depict patterns of carbon pollution.</p>
<h2>What’s Australia’s role in this?</h2>
<p>Australia does not fly satellites yet. But in July 2018 it launched the Australian Space Agency (ASA). Headed by former CSIRO director Megan Clark, it has an initial budget of A$300 million.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ten-essential-reads-to-catch-up-on-australian-space-agency-news-108671">Ten essential reads to catch up on Australian Space Agency news</a>
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<p>The ASA is working with <a href="http://www.ga.gov.au/about">Geoscience Australia</a> (GA) on a A$225 million program to improve data positioning accuracy – to 3cm in cities with mobile coverage. Another A$37 million is going into developing the <a href="http://www.ga.gov.au/dea/about">Digital Earth Australia</a> program for environmental data simulations.</p>
<p>Digital Earth, a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3396470/">term Al Gore coined</a> in his 1992 book, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_in_the_Balance">Earth in the Balance</a>, is an international science agenda to use Earth observation systems to update the ancient cartography ambition to “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2561346?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">present the known world as one and continuous</a>”. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251450/original/file-20181219-27767-nvy926.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251450/original/file-20181219-27767-nvy926.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251450/original/file-20181219-27767-nvy926.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=786&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251450/original/file-20181219-27767-nvy926.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=786&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251450/original/file-20181219-27767-nvy926.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=786&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251450/original/file-20181219-27767-nvy926.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=988&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251450/original/file-20181219-27767-nvy926.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=988&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251450/original/file-20181219-27767-nvy926.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=988&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Buckminster Fuller’s 1927 vision of a ‘4D Interconnected, Unified World’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.buckyfullernow.com/sec-3-bio-of-buckminster-fuller-1927---1947.html">Biography of R. Buckminster Fuller</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This dream was championed most influentially in the 20th century by US scientist <a href="https://www.bfi.org/about-fuller/biography">Richard Buckminster Fuller</a>, with his evolving concepts for an <a href="https://geospatialmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Fuller-air-ocean-world-town-plan-1927.jpg">Air-Ocean World Town Plan</a> (1928), <a href="http://www.geni.org/globalenergy/library/buckminster_fuller/dymaxion_map/dymaxion_projection.shtml">Dymaxion map</a> (1943), <a href="https://mediartinnovation.com/2014/06/06/richard-buckminster-fuller-geoscope-world-game/">Geoscope</a> (a giant electronic space-frame globe, 1962) and his book, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_Manual_for_Spaceship_Earth">Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth</a> (1969).</p>
<p>In the early 2000s, NASA (<a href="https://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/">World Wind</a>) and Google (<a href="https://www.google.com/earth/">Google Earth</a>) launched the first internet-enabled “virtual globes”. </p>
<p>In 2005, major nations established the Group on Earth Observations (<a href="https://www.earthobservations.org/geo_community.php">GEO</a>) secretariat in Geneva to develop a globally networked administration and online access system for geospatial data. These data are mainly from satellites at this stage.</p>
<p>The Global Earth Observations System of Systems (<a href="https://www.earthobservations.org/geoss.php">GEOSS</a>) program now involves more than 200 national governments, United Nations data agencies, and global science and non-government organisations. </p>
<p>Australia’s representative on GEO is Geoscience Australia’s environmental division chief, Stuart Minchin. Working with Minchin, a GA team led by Adam Lewis produced the world-leading <a href="http://nci.org.au/services/virtual-laboratories/australian-geoscience-data-cube/">Data Cube</a> system for rapidly analysing time-series stacks of American <a href="https://landsat.usgs.gov/landsat-project-description">Landsat</a> images covering Australia’s 40-plus zones of latitude and longitude. </p>
<p>European scientists are now using this method to compile a <a href="https://ghsl.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.php">data-layered map of human settlements</a> around the world. </p>
<p>Another notable advance in urban modelling comes from a public-private partnership between the Australian government’s data-marketing company, <a href="https://www.psma.com.au/about">PSMA</a>, and two global corporations: US satellite imagery supplier <a href="https://www.digitalglobe.com/about/our-company">DigitalGlobe</a> and business software vendor <a href="https://www.pitneybowes.com/au/our-company.html">Pitney Bowes Australia</a>. They offer information-rich online aerial imagery of Australian suburbs. Multispectral and shortwave infrared sensors aboard DigitalGlobe’s <a href="https://www.digitalglobe.com/resources/satellite-information">WorldView satellites</a> are used to create these images. </p>
<p>Menu options enable users to clarify footprints and heights of buildings and trees, roof materials, and locations of swimming pools and solar panels. PSMA adds cadastral and other government land data, including plot areas and street addresses. This covers more than 15 million buildings over 7.6 million square kilometres.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249185/original/file-20181206-128208-nuwfj4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249185/original/file-20181206-128208-nuwfj4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249185/original/file-20181206-128208-nuwfj4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249185/original/file-20181206-128208-nuwfj4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249185/original/file-20181206-128208-nuwfj4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249185/original/file-20181206-128208-nuwfj4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249185/original/file-20181206-128208-nuwfj4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249185/original/file-20181206-128208-nuwfj4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mapping of building and roof materials in the Australian city of Adelaide, using GeoVision tools by Pitney Bowes derived from PSMA’s Geoscape data system, with imagery from shortwave infrared and multispectral sensors aboard DigitalGlobe’s WorldView 3 satellite.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pitney Bowes Australia courtesy PSMA</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>So where do people fit into this world?</h2>
<p>As Al Gore <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=FYfcAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA358&dq=cope+with+the+enormous+volumes+of+data+that+will+be+routinely+beamed+down&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjEtIH636XfAhVNfX0KHfXRCGgQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=cope%20with%20the%20enormous%20volumes%20of%20data%20that%20will%20be%20routinely%20beamed%20down&f=false">noted</a> in 1992:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… no one yet knows how to cope with the enormous volumes of data that will be routinely beamed down from orbit. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>But he cited the importance of machines learning to improve their methods and a global infrastructure of massive parallelism — using dispersed chips and computers to process information at faster speeds. </p>
<p>Where do people step into this auto-piloting system? That remains moot.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>A caption to an image in this article has been updated to clarify that it is an aerial view of Adelaide.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104938/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Davina Jackson was employed in the late 2000s as a multifaculty research strategies professor by UNSW and NICTA, and received grants from Austrade to ‘catalyse’ a national and global data cities network that NICTA formally launched in Sydney in 2008. From 2009 to 2012, she was a director of non-profit companies funded by the NSW and Singapore governments to produce the first ‘smart light’ city festivals. Her 2012 online report on the ‘Digital Earth, Virtual Nations, Data Cities’ movement was print-sponsored by the Group on Earth Observations for distribution to two international conferences of geospatial science academics and urbanists in 2012 and 2014.</span></em></p>The huge volume and high quality of data streaming down from Earth observation satellites are transforming how we see and shape our cities.Davina Jackson, Honorary Academic, School of Architecture, University of KentLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/952072018-06-13T17:21:48Z2018-06-13T17:21:48ZShort-term changes in Antarctica’s ice shelves are key to predicting their long-term fate<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222991/original/file-20180613-32347-12ej8ho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The northeast edge of the Venable Ice Shelf, near Antarctica's Allison Peninsula.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/H84yYt">NASA/John Sonntag</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Antarctica’s ice sheet contains enough ice to raise global sea levels by around 180 feet if it all melted. But dramatic, eye-catching changes to Antarctica’s floating ice shelves, such as calving icebergs, are often highlighted in the news without a sense of long-term context or a clear connection to what is causing the changes. </p>
<p>Antarctica is <a href="https://theconversation.com/cold-and-calculating-what-the-two-different-types-of-ice-do-to-sea-levels-59996">losing land ice</a> at an accelerating rate, and current observations suggest it will become the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/new-study-finds-sea-level-rise-accelerating">largest contributor to sea level rise</a> by the middle of this century. Understanding variations in the height of Antarctic ice shelves – the floating edges of the continent’s ice sheet – can tell us how and why Antarctica is changing, and what that could mean for future sea levels.</p>
<p>We study <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JI_DpHwAAAAJ&hl=en">changes</a> in <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=J4DvU4oAAAAJ&hl=en">Antarctic</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ybHJBncAAAAJ&hl=en">ice</a> shelves, along with our colleague <a href="https://www.esr.org/staff/laurence-padman/">Laurie Padman</a> at <a href="https://www.esr.org/">Earth & Space Research</a>, a nonprofit institute in Seattle. One of us, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5prTIdoAAAAJ&hl=en">Helen Amanda Fricker</a>, contributed to two articles in a <a href="https://www.nature.com/collections/jwwltflrpn">special issue of the journal Nature</a> that brings together current understanding of the state of Antarctica. Here’s what we see happening.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222802/original/file-20180612-112614-1nf8oyd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222802/original/file-20180612-112614-1nf8oyd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222802/original/file-20180612-112614-1nf8oyd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222802/original/file-20180612-112614-1nf8oyd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222802/original/file-20180612-112614-1nf8oyd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222802/original/file-20180612-112614-1nf8oyd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222802/original/file-20180612-112614-1nf8oyd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222802/original/file-20180612-112614-1nf8oyd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Antarctica’s major geographical features, including the West and East Antarctic ice sheets, the Antarctic Peninsula and some of the larger ice shelves around the continent’s edges.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Antarctica_major_geographical_features.jpg">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ice shelves hold back the grounded ice</h2>
<p>Antarctic ice shelves provide mechanical support to hold back the flow of ice from the continent to the ocean, regulating the pace of mass loss from the enormous ice sheet. Scientists call this process “buttressing,” since it works in the same way that an <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/buttress-architecture">architectural buttress</a> prevents a building from collapsing. </p>
<p>Reducing the mass of an ice shelf does not contribute directly to sea level rise, since this ice is already floating on the ocean, but it promotes faster discharge of grounded ice, which increases sea level. To understand how Antarctic mass loss varies, we need to understand how ice shelves grow and shrink.</p>
<p>Ice shelves gain mass mainly through ice flowing from the continent and local snowfall on their surfaces. They lose mass primarily through melting by the ocean and by iceberg calving. </p>
<p>Antarctica has more than 300 ice shelves, and the net change in their mass is a delicate balance between gains and losses. Determining this balance requires understanding how ice, ocean, and atmosphere interact to drive changes around Antarctica. Climate change will alter the overall balance between gains and losses, and will determine the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0173-4">future of Antarctica’s ice loss</a>.</p>
<h2>The critical role of satellites</h2>
<p>Antarctica’s small ice shelves are roughly the area of small cities, and its largest is the size of Spain. The total ice-shelf area is around 1.5 million square kilometers (580,000 square miles), about as large as Mongolia. The only viable way to routinely monitor changes in their mass is with satellites. </p>
<p>Since the launch of <a href="https://landsat.usgs.gov/landsat-missions-timeline">Landsat 1</a> in 1972, satellite data have taught us a lot about the ice sheet, including its large-scale structure, surface properties and flow rates. A <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0179-y">recent synthesis</a> combined 150 independent estimates of ice-sheet mass loss from satellite data and atmospheric models to show that the ice sheet is losing more mass to the ocean with every passing year. The largest changes have occurred in places where ice shelves have either thinned or collapsed.</p>
<p>Single satellite missions typically only last five to 10 years, but we can stitch together data from consecutive missions to increase the length of the record. This helps us separate long-term trends from natural climate variability and unravel processes that drive changes around the margins of Antarctica.</p>
<p>The European Space Agency (ESA) has launched four ice-observing satellites since 1992, carrying radar altimeters to precisely determine the distance between the satellite and the Earth’s surface beneath it. These data have now provided a continuous time series of variations in ice-shelf surface height since the early 1990s. Combining measured increases and decreases in surface height with the latest generation of climate models to infer how the atmosphere has changed, we can estimate the amount of mass an ice shelf can lose to the ocean.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aSRxJVGlx7U?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Work by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography reveals that strong El Niño events can cause significant ice loss in some Antarctic ice shelves.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>El Niño and La Niña affect ice shelves</h2>
<p>The Pacific Ocean sector of the Antarctic Ice Sheet is experiencing exceptionally high mass loss. This sector contains the rapidly changing Thwaites Glacier, which is the focus of a <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43936372">new major research initiative</a> between the U.S. National Science Foundation and the United Kingdom’s National Environmental Research Council. </p>
<p>The 23-year altimeter record revealed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-017-0033-0">long-term mass loss in the Pacific sector ice shelves</a>. Further analysis of these data showed that in addition, the <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ninonina.html">El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO)</a> – a periodic variation in sea surface temperatures and pressure over the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean – caused additional height change fluctuations. </p>
<p>Strong El Niño events, which typically bring warmer ocean waters and increase precipitation, increase snowfall over these ice shelves. But they also increase ocean-driven melting, removing ice from the ice-shelf base. Since snow is less dense than solid ice, mass lost through melting exceeds that added by snowfall. The result is that total ice-shelf mass, and hence its buttressing capability, actually decreases during El Niño events even though the height of the ice shelf may increase. </p>
<p>The opposite occurs during La Niñas, the counter to El Niño, where tropical ocean waters cool. Scientists expect that total precipitation and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2100">frequency of extreme ENSO events will increase as Earth’s atmosphere warms</a>, which implies that yearly fluctuations of ice shelf thickness and mass will also increase.</p>
<h2>Atmospheric conditions affect the Antarctic Peninsula</h2>
<p>A region further north in Antarctica, the Antarctic Peninsula, has experienced <a href="https://nsidc.org/news/newsroom/larsen_B/2002.html">startling changes over the past three decades</a>. Here several ice shelves have catastrophically collapsed due to warming in the atmosphere. Scientists see this as a canary in the coal mine: Similar warming events could drive the collapse of more southern ice shelves, which can play a larger role in future sea level rise. </p>
<p>Extensive press coverage of the 2017 calving of a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Aw0kHAnY28">Delaware-sized iceberg</a> from Larsen C Ice Shelf has aggravated such concerns. However, in a recent study we showed that the height of the remaining Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves across the region has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076652">increased since 2009</a>. Using atmospheric models backed up by field observations, we connected this height recovery to a regional cooling that persisted for several years and reduced summertime surface melting. The large calving event was likely a normal mass loss process, similar to a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01431169508954407">larger event in 1986</a>. There is so far no clear indication that Larsen C is on the brink of collapse.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222800/original/file-20180612-112599-s3do2q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222800/original/file-20180612-112599-s3do2q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222800/original/file-20180612-112599-s3do2q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=264&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222800/original/file-20180612-112599-s3do2q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=264&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222800/original/file-20180612-112599-s3do2q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=264&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222800/original/file-20180612-112599-s3do2q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222800/original/file-20180612-112599-s3do2q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222800/original/file-20180612-112599-s3do2q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Height changes observed over Larsen C Ice Shelf from Four European Space Agency satellites, one NASA satellite and an extensive airborne survey from NASA’s Operation IceBridge.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Helen Fricker</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The role of the atmosphere is only part of this story. After removing the effect of higher air temperatures, we found that the ocean continued to melt the ice shelves’ bases at a rate that tipped the scales toward net mass loss. In fact, we found that the atmosphere recently played a stabilizing role while the ocean exerts a continuing destabilizing influence, highlighting the complex interplay between the atmosphere, ice and ocean around Antarctica.</p>
<h2>New satellites will provide more insight</h2>
<p>With existing data, scientists can begin to decode the intricacies of ice-shelf evolution to improve our understanding of what is influencing ice-shelf mass changes and stability. </p>
<p>Satellites have shown that the ice shelves are shrinking overall due to increased ocean-induced melting. In addition to the overall trend, signals corresponding to atmospheric and oceanic processes are becoming apparent, such as influences from El Niño and La Niña cycles in the tropics and local atmospheric changes. </p>
<p>As the satellite record lengthens with the launch of new polar-orbiting satellites like NASA’s <a href="https://icesat-2.gsfc.nasa.gov/">ICESat-2</a> in September 2018 and <a href="https://nisar.jpl.nasa.gov/">NISAR</a> in 2020, scientists expect to reach the point where we can confidently include these processes in models of ice-sheet response to climate changes, which will improve projections of future sea level rise.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95207/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Amanda Fricker receives funding from NASA and NSF.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fernando Paolo receives funding from NASA. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Siegfried receives funding from NSF and NASA. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susheel Adusumilli receives funding from NASA. </span></em></p>Last summer one of Antarctica’s floating ice shelves calved an iceberg the size of Delaware – but scientists say other less dramatic changes reveal more about how and why Antarctica is changing.Helen Amanda Fricker, Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San DiegoFernando Paolo, Postdoctoral Scholar, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of TechnologyMatthew Siegfried, Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University, Stanford UniversitySusheel Adusumilli, Graduate Student Researcher, University of California, San DiegoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/880042017-11-28T19:08:32Z2017-11-28T19:08:32ZThree new reports add clarity to Australia’s space sector, a ‘crowded and valuable high ground’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196249/original/file-20171124-21795-e8qo5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=93%2C373%2C3998%2C2372&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Three new reports examine Australia’s existing space capabilities, set them in the light of international developments, and identify growth areas and models for Australia to pursue. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/136319147@N08/23629554508/in/photolist-C14Djd-brt87D-5WCvsj-88Cmv3-npwZJQ-a8ja2k-7WWnPH-8Qpj2i-9DanXf-88z3Vz-292jSN-7S5vPk-a47QeL-aqvjHi-kxDkTP-HfjTkc-ofhtgu-9Tuwgu-o4zoNb-2NvKmr-aqvjRg-h8Xwqf-q8aryo-rbdYdc-nP74dG-bwLNyn-k36zt-8pgyZs-acf9T2-6aYabi-idKo3t-jyL531-Tvtfsy-2Vb3LG-aD4o9X-h8XpvH-9A92bG-PPbr9S-aD8wGU-84oQZ9-aMDMsx-HfjT9R-bsnP1e-6FiSCR-6FiSGD-bqRPzr-nuKzUc-qannsh-qoTFx2-5e8wFi">136319147@N08/flickr </a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia seems on the brink of embracing space in a coordinated manner, but how should we do it? </p>
<p>This week, the Australian government <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Pages/Review-of-Australian-Space-Industry-Capability.aspx">released three reports</a> to help chart the future of Australia’s space industry. Their conclusions will feed into the <a href="http://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/sinodinos/media-releases/expert-review-australia%E2%80%99s-space-industry-capabilities-participate">review of Australia’s space industry</a> underway by former CSIRO head Dr Megan Clark. </p>
<p>The reports examine Australia’s existing space capabilities, set them in the light of international developments, and identify growth areas and models for Australia to pursue. The promise is there: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Australia has scattered globally competitive capabilities in areas from <a href="http://www.sws.bom.gov.au/">space weather</a> to <a href="https://www.cdscc.nasa.gov/">deep-space communication</a> but “by far the strongest areas” are applications of satellite data on Earth to industries like agriculture, communications and mining</p></li>
<li><p>Australian research in other sectors like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/watch-australias-3d-printed-rocket-engine-is-being-tested-2017-9">3D printing</a> and <a href="http://mashable.com/2017/09/27/starlight-vr-trainer-opaque/#rOaasU9.Oqq6">VR</a> is being translated to space with potentially high payoffs </p></li>
<li><p>global trends, including the demand for more <a href="https://theconversation.com/step-up-australia-we-need-a-traffic-cop-in-space-86464">space traffic management</a>, play to our emerging strengths</p></li>
<li><p>the prize for success is real - the UK currently has an <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/575804/LE-SHUKSI_2016-INFOGRAPHIC-FINAL_S2C171116.pdf">A$8 billion space export industry</a>, and anticipates further growth.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>While it is <a href="http://www.spaceindustry.com.au/publications.php">not the first time</a> the government has commissioned this type of research, the updates are welcome given the fast pace of space innovation. Taken together they paint a picture of potential for the future of Australian space and a firm foundation for a space agency.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/five-steps-australia-can-take-to-build-an-effective-space-agency-86617">Five steps Australia can take to build an effective space agency</a>
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<h2>The rules of the game</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Documents/BRYCE-Australia-Global-Space-Industry-Dynamics-Paper.pdf">Global Space Industry Dynamics</a> report from Bryce Space and Technology, a US-based space specialist consulting firm, sets out the “rules of the game” in the US$344 billion (A$450 billion) space sector. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196631/original/file-20171128-2089-1gvsixw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196631/original/file-20171128-2089-1gvsixw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196631/original/file-20171128-2089-1gvsixw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196631/original/file-20171128-2089-1gvsixw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196631/original/file-20171128-2089-1gvsixw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=684&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196631/original/file-20171128-2089-1gvsixw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=684&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196631/original/file-20171128-2089-1gvsixw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=684&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The global space economy at a glance. Figures are from 2016, and shown in US$.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Documents/BRYCE-Australia-Global-Space-Industry-Dynamics-Paper.pdf">Marcella Cheng for The Conversation, adapted from Global Space Industry Dynamics Research Paper by Bryce Space and Technology</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It highlights that: </p>
<ul>
<li>three quarters of global revenues are made commercially, despite the prevailing perception that space is a government concern</li>
<li>most commercial revenue is made from space-enabled services and applications (like satellite TV or GPS receivers) rather than the construction and launch of space hardware itself</li>
<li>commercial launch and satellite manufacturing industries are still small in relative terms, at about US$20.5 billion (A$27 billion) of revenues, but show strong growth, particularly for smaller satellites and launch vehicles.</li>
</ul>
<p>The report also looks at the emerging trends that a smart space industry in Australia will try and run ahead of. Space is becoming cheaper, more attractive to investors and increasingly important in our data-rich economy. These trends have not gone unnoticed by global competitors, though, and the report describes space as an increasingly “crowded and valuable high ground”.</p>
<p>What is particularly useful about the report is its sharp focus on the three numbers that determine commercial attractiveness: </p>
<ol>
<li>market size</li>
<li>growth</li>
<li>profitability.<br></li>
</ol>
<p>The magic comes through matching these attractive sectors against areas where Australia can compete strongly because of existing capability or geographic advantage.</p>
<p>The report suggests growth opportunities across traditional and emerging space sectors. In traditional sectors, it calls out satellite services, particularly commercial satellite radio and broadband, and ground infrastructure as prime opportunities. In emerging sectors, <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-relies-on-data-from-earth-observation-satellites-but-our-access-is-high-risk-82985">earth observation</a> data analytics, space traffic management, and small satellite manufacturing are all tipped as potentially profitable growth areas where Australia could compete. </p>
<p>The report adds the speculative area of space mining as an additional sector worth considering given Australia’s existing terrestrial capability.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/space-mining-is-closer-than-you-think-and-the-prospects-are-great-45707">Space mining is closer than you think, and the prospects are great</a>
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<p>It is encouraging that Australian organisations have anticipated the growth areas, from <a href="https://theconversation.com/space-mining-is-closer-than-you-think-and-the-prospects-are-great-45707">UNSW’s off-earth mining research</a>, to Geoscience Australia’s <a href="http://www.ga.gov.au/about/projects/geographic/digital-earth-australia">integrated satellite data</a> to Mt Stromlo’s <a href="http://www.serc.org.au/">debris tracking capability</a>. </p>
<h2>Australian capabilities</h2>
<p>Australian capabilities are the focus of a second report, by ACIL Allen consulting, <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Documents/Australian-Space-Industry-Capability-A-review.pdf">Australian Space Industry Capability</a>. The review highlights a smattering of world class Australian capabilities, particularly in the application of space data to activities on Earth like agriculture, transport and financial services. </p>
<p>There are also emerging Australian capabilities in small satellites and potentially disruptive technologies with space applications, like 3D printing, AI and quantum computing. The report notes that basic research is strong, but challenges remain in “industrialising and commercialising the resulting products”.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Australian universities made cubesats for an international research project.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The concern about commercialisation prompts questions about the policies that will help Australian companies succeed. </p>
<p>Should we embrace recent trends and rely wholly on market mechanisms and venture capital Darwinism, or buy into traditional international space projects? </p>
<p>Do we send our brightest overseas for a few years’ training, or spin up a full suite of research and development programs domestically? </p>
<p>Are there regulations that need to change to level the playing field for Australian space exports?</p>
<h2>Learning from the world</h2>
<p>Part of the answer is to be found in the third report, <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Documents/BRYCE-Australia-Global-Space-Strategies-and-Best-Practices-Paper.pdf">Global Space Strategies and Best Practices</a>, which looks at global approaches to funding, capability development, and governance arrangements. The case studies illustrate a range of styles.</p>
<p>The UK’s pragmatic approach developed a £5 billion (A$8 billion) <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/575804/LE-SHUKSI_2016-INFOGRAPHIC-FINAL_S2C171116.pdf">export industry</a> by focusing primarily on competitive commercial applications, including a satellite Australia <a href="https://theconversation.com/collecting-satellite-data-australia-wants-a-new-direction-for-earth-observation-84678">recently bought</a> a time-share on.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/collecting-satellite-data-australia-wants-a-new-direction-for-earth-observation-84678">Collecting satellite data Australia wants: a new direction for Earth observation</a>
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<p>A longer-term play is Luxembourg’s use of tax breaks and legal changes to attract space mining ventures. Before laughing, remember that Luxembourg has space clout: satellite giants SES and Intelsat are headquartered there thanks to similar forward thinking in the 1980s. Those two companies pulled in about A$3 billion of profit between them last year.</p>
<p>Norway and Canada show a middle ground, combining international partnerships with clear focus areas that benefit research and the economy. Norway has taken advantage of its geography to build satellite ground stations for polar-orbiting satellites, in an interesting parallel with Australia’s longstanding ground capabilities. Canada used its relationship with the United States to build the robotic “Canadarm” for the Space Shuttle and International Space Station, developing a space robotics capability for the country.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oMSctD2PNaI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Canadarm played an important role in Canada-USA relations.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The only caution is that confining the possible role models to the space sector is unnecessarily limiting. Commercialisation in technology fields is a broader policy question, and there is much to learn from recent innovations including <a href="http://www.csiro.au/en/Showcase/Innovation-fund">CSIRO’s venture fund</a> and the broader Cooperative Research Centre (<a href="https://www.business.gov.au/assistance/cooperative-research-centres-programme">CRC</a>) program.</p>
<p>As well as the three reports, the government recently released <a href="https://consult.industry.gov.au/space-activities/review-of-australian-space-industry-capability/consultation/published_select_respondent">140 public submissions</a> to the panel. </p>
<p>There is no shortage of advice for Dr Clark and the expert reference group; appropriate given it seems an industry of remarkable potential rests in their hands.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88004/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Wicht is affiliated with the Space Industry Association of Australia and the Center for a New American Security. The Alliance 21 program receives funding from the Australian Government and industry.</span></em></p>Space is becoming cheaper, more attractive to investors and increasingly important in our data-rich economy. It’s time Australia mapped a path forward.Anthony Wicht, Alliance 21 Fellow (Space) at the United States Studies Centre, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/855392017-10-12T19:17:29Z2017-10-12T19:17:29ZSatellites are giving us a commanding view of Earth’s carbon cycle<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189955/original/file-20171012-31440-1e9twdj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Carbon dioxide flux over China, measured by NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 satellite.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The job of monitoring Earth’s carbon cycle and humanity’s carbon dioxide emissions is increasingly supported from above, thanks to the terabytes of data pouring down to Earth from satellites.</p>
<p>Five papers <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/358/6360/186">published in Science today</a> provide data from NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission. They show Earth’s carbon cycle in unprecedented detail, including the effects of fires in Southeast Asia, the growth rates of Amazonian forests, and the <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/358/6360/eaam5690">record-breaking rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide during the 2015-16 El Niño</a>.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/found-lost-forests-covering-an-area-two-thirds-the-size-of-australia-77550">Found: 'lost' forests covering an area two-thirds the size of Australia</a>
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<p>Another <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/09/28/tropical-forests-used-to-protect-us-from-climate-change-a-new-study-says-theyre-now-making-it-worse/?utm_term=.272fc73813dd">satellite study released two weeks ago</a> revealed rapid biomass loss across the tropics, showing that we have been overlooking the largest sources of terrestrial carbon emissions. While we may worry about land clearing, twice as much biomass is being lost from tropical forests through degradation processes such as harvesting.</p>
<p>The next step in our understanding of Earth’s carbon dynamics will be to build sensors, satellites and computer models that can distinguish human activity from natural processes.</p>
<h2>Can satellites see human-made emissions?</h2>
<p>The idea of using satellites to keep track of our efforts to reduce fossil fuel emissions is enticing. Current satellites can’t do it, but the next generation is aiming to support the monitoring at the level of countries, regions and cities.</p>
<p>Current satellite sensors can measure CO₂ levels in the atmosphere, but can’t tell whether it is coming from the natural exchange of carbon with the land and oceans, or from human activities such as fossil fuel burning, cement production, and deforestation. </p>
<p>Likewise, satellites cannot distinguish between natural and human changes in leaf area cover (greenness), or the capacity of vegetation to absorb CO₂.</p>
<p>But as the spatial resolution of satellites increases, this will change. OCO-2 can see features as small as 3 square km while the previous purpose-built satellite <a href="http://www.gosat.nies.go.jp/en/">GOSAT</a> is limited to observing features no smaller than about 50 square km.</p>
<p>As resolution improves, we will be able to better observed the elevated CO₂ concentrations over emissions hotspots such as large cities, bushfire regions in Africa and Australia, or even individual power plants and industrial leaks.</p>
<p>By combining these sensing techniques with computer models of the atmosphere, oceans and land, we will be able to separate out humanity’s impact from natural processes.</p>
<p>For example, we have long known that atmospheric CO₂ concentration rises faster during an El Nino event, and that this is mainly due to changes on land. It was only with the bird’s-eye view afforded by the OCO-2 satellite could we see that each of the tropical continents reacted so differently during the recent big El Niño: fire emissions increased in Southeast Asia, carbon uptake by forests in Amazonia declined, and soil respiration in tropical Africa increased.</p>
<p>Similarly, we can now examine the processes behind the extraordinary greening of the Earth over recent decades as CO₂ levels have climbed. <a href="https://theconversation.com/rising-carbon-dioxide-is-greening-the-earth-but-its-not-all-good-news-58282">Up to 50% of vegetated land is now greener</a> than it was 30 years ago. The increasing human-driven CO2 fertilization effect on vegetation was estimated to be the dominant driver. </p>
<p>We now have satellites that can study this process at spatial resolutions of tens of metres – meaning we can also keep tabs on processes that undo this greening, such as <a href="http://www.globalforestwatch.org">deforestation</a>.</p>
<h2>What’s in store</h2>
<p>The coming decade will see the development of yet more space sensors and modelling tools to help us keep tabs on the carbon cycle.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gosat-2.nies.go.jp">GOSAT-2</a> will replace the current GOSAT, offering significantly improved resolution and more sensitive measurements of CO₂ and methane (CH₄), another important greenhouse gas. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/watching-the-planet-breathe-studying-earths-%20carbon-cycle-from-space-72344">GeoCarb</a> satellite will be launched into a <a href="https://www.space.com/29222-geosynchronous-orbit.html">stationary orbit</a> over the Americas to measure CO₂, CH₄ (largely from wetlands in the tropics), and carbon monoxide (from biomass burning). It will keep an eye out for any large leaks from the gas industry.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/missions/esa-future-missions/biomass">BIOMASS</a> and <a href="https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/missions/esa-future-missions/flex">FLEX</a> satellite missions will provide better global estimates of forest height and carbon density, and of plants’ photosynthetic capacity, respectively. </p>
<p>Aboard the International Space Station, an instrument called <a href="https://eospso.nasa.gov/missions/global-ecosystem-dynamics-investigation-lidar">GEDI</a>, will also estimate vegetation height and structure, and combined with <a href="https://ecostress.jpl.nasa.gov/">ECOSTRESS</a> will assess changes in above-ground biomass, carbon stocks and productivity.</p>
<p>In Australia, we are developing an atmospheric modelling system and a dynamic vegetation model able to ingest the latest generation of satellite and ground-base observations to map carbon sources and sinks over the entire continent. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-great-green-boom-of-2010-11-has-been-undone-by-drought-69632">Australia's 'great green boom' of 2010-11 has been undone by drought</a>
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<p>Through the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (<a href="http://www.tern.org.au/">TERN</a>), we are preparing to take full advantage of these new missions, and help validate many of these space-borne estimates at TERN’s Supersites and other key sampling plots.</p>
<p>With the wealth of information set to be generated by space sensors, as well as earth-based observations and computer models, we are moving into an era when we will have an unprecedented ability to track humans’ impact on our atmosphere, lands and oceans.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85539/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pep Canadell receives funding from the National Environmental Science Programme - Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub.<a href="https://theconversation.com/drafts/85539/edit#">https://theconversation.com/drafts/85539/edit#</a></span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Held receives funding from the Commonwealth government Department of Education (under NCRIS via University of Queensland) to lead the remote sensing data facility of TERN.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cathy Trudinger receives funding from the National Environmental Science Programme - Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Rayner has consulted to various organisations which develop satellites. He is a member of the GO-SAT, OCO-2 and GeoCarb science teams. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vanessa Haverd receives funding from the National Environmental Science Programme - Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub</span></em></p>New data from a NASA satellite show in unprecedented detail the flow of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Future satellites should even be able to detect the signatures of individual power stations.Pep Canadell, CSIRO Scientist, and Executive Director of the Global Carbon Project, CSIROAlex Held, Principal Research Scientist, CSIROCathy Trudinger, Senior Research Scientist, CSIROPeter Rayner, Professorial Fellow, The University of MelbourneVanessa Haverd, Research Scientist, Carbon Water Observatory, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/846782017-09-26T03:03:22Z2017-09-26T03:03:22ZCollecting satellite data Australia wants: a new direction for Earth observation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187464/original/file-20170925-4607-jh1jba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">NovaSAR-S will image Earth in all weather conditions, both day and night (computer generated image). </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">SSTL</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia – for the first time - will soon have the power to task an Earth imaging satellite in orbit. We’ll be able to collect imagery where we need it, and downlink the data directly into Australian ground stations.</p>
<p>CSIRO, under an agreement with Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (<a href="https://www.sstl.co.uk/">SSTL</a>), has secured a 10% share of “tasking and acquisition” time on the <a href="http://www.sstl.co.uk/Products/SSTL-Platforms-range">NovaSAR satellite</a>, due for launch later this year.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-relies-on-data-from-earth-observation-satellites-but-our-access-is-high-risk-82985">Australia relies on data from Earth observation satellites, but our access is high risk</a>
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<p>For the next seven years, Australia will have priority in directing the satellite to collect imagery every time it passes over our region. We will also be able to downlink the data for our own use, to an Australian receiving station, and share it with our research partners.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Collecting data over Australia, for Australian uses.</span></figcaption>
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<p>This will be a valuable asset for Australian scientists. We will learn how best to operate such a space capability to our own advantage, plus we will develop new time-critical downstream uses for the data. These include supporting large-scale disaster response efforts, and other major events where fast access to data is vital for effective decision-making. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.sstl.co.uk/Products/SSTL-Platforms-range">NovaSAR</a> will be operated in parallel with CSIRO’s other national facilities, such as the <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Facilities/Marine-National-Facility/RV-Investigator">RV Investigator marine research vessel</a> and the <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Facilities/ATNF">Australia Telescope National Facility</a> – but in space.</p>
<h2>All-seeing satellite</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.sstl.co.uk/Products/SSTL-Platforms-range">NovaSAR</a> is a brand new satellite. It can image Earth in all weather conditions, both day and night, using S-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (or SAR), providing high quality radar images of Earth of between 6m to 30m spatial resolution.</p>
<p>This dual capability is especially useful for land, coastal and marine mapping applications in cloudy tropical areas. It provides us with the ability to track the presence and movement of shipping in our regional waters.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187493/original/file-20170926-19571-13b434p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187493/original/file-20170926-19571-13b434p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187493/original/file-20170926-19571-13b434p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187493/original/file-20170926-19571-13b434p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187493/original/file-20170926-19571-13b434p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187493/original/file-20170926-19571-13b434p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187493/original/file-20170926-19571-13b434p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Testing of NovaSAR at Airbus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Airbus Defence and Space</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/radar/about/what_is_radar.shtml">Radar</a> was invented in the mid-20th century. While initially restricted to the military, it’s now applied for many civilian uses. </p>
<p>Circulating Earth at an altitude of about 600km, NovaSAR will generate radio microwaves and measure the strength of their return (that is, how they bounce back from the Earth’s surface). This will enable it to build an image of objects and structures at ground level.</p>
<p>The main advantage of this new initiative is that we can decide where on Earth we want NovaSAR to collect hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of Earth imagery per day, with highest priority for the Australian region. We will send programming instructions to the satellite via a computer terminal based in Australia that is connected to SSTL’s operations centre in the UK.</p>
<p>The satellite will then be tasked to point its radar at our chosen areas, collect this data, then send it directly down to ground receiving stations based in Australia while passing overhead.</p>
<h2>It’s all in the analytics</h2>
<p>Last year’s report on <a href="https://d28rz98at9flks.cloudfront.net/83102/83102_EOS_Report.pdf">Australian Government Earth Observation Data Requirements to 2025</a> found that Australia’s Earth observation data storage requirements are expected to increase dramatically over the next decade. This will support the data needs of more than 140 government programs with a cumulative storage capacity requirement of approximately 44 PetaBytes by 2025.</p>
<p>The Open Data Cube (<a href="http://www.datacube.org.au/">ODC</a>)) platform - developed by <a href="http://www.ga.gov.au/">Geoscience Australia</a>, CSIRO and the <a href="http://nci.org.au/">National Computational Infrastructure</a> facility and international partners – will house and process petabytes of satellite Earth observation data from multiple sensors.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-australia-will-have-a-space-agency-what-does-this-mean-experts-respond-84588">Yes, Australia will have a space agency. What does this mean? Experts respond</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The ODC is built from open-source software and is used as the base technology for the new <a href="http://www.ga.gov.au/about/projects/geographic/digital-earth-australia">Digital Earth Australia</a> program, plus 20 emerging datacubes around the world, designed to use Earth observation data and analytics more effectively.</p>
<h2>Focus on Australia</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-relies-on-data-from-earth-observation-satellites-but-our-access-is-high-risk-82985">Earth observation data</a> today is no longer just a research activity. It informs policy, helps manage natural environments, assists recovery from major catastrophes and generates agricultural and industrial development opportunities.</p>
<p>NovaSAR will allow a new level of control over Earth observation data in and for Australia.</p>
<p>With the recent announcement that <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-australia-will-have-a-space-agency-what-does-this-mean-experts-respond-84588">Australia will develop a space agency</a>, it’s an exciting time to work in the space sector.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84678/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>As a scientific and industrial research organisation, on average CSIRO receives approximately 80% of its funding from government, and 20% from targeted industry sources. </span></em></p>Australia will be able to guide the Earth observation satellite “NovaSAR” as it passes over our region - giving us a new level of control over the data we need to solve local problems.Alex Held, Principal Research Scientist, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/829852017-09-20T20:33:49Z2017-09-20T20:33:49ZAustralia relies on data from Earth observation satellites, but our access is high risk<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186693/original/file-20170920-22691-bkgy2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The NASA satellite Landsat-8 collects frequent global multispectral imagery of the Earth’s surface. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/scan/services/missions/earth/LDCM.html">NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is part of a series <strong>Australia’s place in space</strong>, where we’ll explore the strengths and weaknesses, along with the past, present and the future of Australia’s space presence and activities.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Rockets, astronomy and humans on Mars: there’s a lot of <a href="http://www.iac2017.org/">excited talk</a> about space and what new discoveries might come if Australia’s federal government commits to <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Pages/Review-of-Australian-Space-Industry-Capability.aspx">expanding Australia’s space industry</a>. </p>
<p>But one space industry is often left out of the conversation: Earth observation (EO). </p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-its-time-for-australia-to-launch-its-own-space-agency-72735">Why it’s time for Australia to launch its own space agency</a></em> </p>
<hr>
<p>EO refers to the collection of information about Earth, and delivery of useful data for human activities. For Australia, the minimum economic impact of EO from space-borne sensors alone is approximately <a href="http://www.aeoccg.org.au/aeocp-the-plan/">A$5.3 billion each year</a>. </p>
<p>And yet <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Publications/Pages/Australias-Satellite-Utilisation-Policy.aspx">the default position of our government</a> seems to be that the provision of EO resources will come from other countries’ investments, or commercial partners. </p>
<p>This means the extensive Commonwealth-state-local <a href="http://www.crcsi.com.au/assets/Program-2/The-Value-of-Earth-Observations-from-Space-to-Australia-ACIL-Allen-FINAL-20151207.pdf">government and industry reliance</a> on access to EO services remains <a href="https://theconversation.com/security-and-space-australias-free-ride-is-coming-to-an-end-9918">a high-risk</a>.</p>
<h2>What is EO (Earth observation)?</h2>
<p>You’ve almost certainly relied on EO at some point already today.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186702/original/file-20170920-20014-7kjl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186702/original/file-20170920-20014-7kjl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186702/original/file-20170920-20014-7kjl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186702/original/file-20170920-20014-7kjl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186702/original/file-20170920-20014-7kjl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186702/original/file-20170920-20014-7kjl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186702/original/file-20170920-20014-7kjl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The wide range of government, industry and societal uses of Earth observation in Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Earth Observation Community Coordination Plan 2026</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>EO describes the activities used to gather data about the Earth from satellites, aircraft, remotely piloted systems and other platforms. It delivers information for our daily weather and oceanographic forecasts, disaster management systems, water and power supply, infrastructure monitoring, mining, agricultural production, environmental monitoring and more.</p>
<p>Global positioning and navigation, communications and information derived from satellites looking at, and away from Earth are referred to as “<a href="http://www.crcsi.com.au/assets/Resources/CRCSI-The-Value-of-Earth-Observations-from-Space-to-Australia-Final-web.pdf">downstream</a>” space activities. </p>
<p>“Upstream” activities are the industries building infrastructure (satellites, sensors), launch vehicles and ground facilities for operating space-based equipment. <a href="http://www.spaceindustry.com.au/Documents/Paper%20FINAL-5.pdf">In this arena</a>, countries such as Russia focus on building, launching and operating satellites and space craft. Others (such as Canada, Italy, UK) target developing industries and government activities that use these services. The US and China maintain a balance. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186703/original/file-20170920-20018-1a7akv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186703/original/file-20170920-20018-1a7akv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186703/original/file-20170920-20018-1a7akv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=128&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186703/original/file-20170920-20018-1a7akv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=128&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186703/original/file-20170920-20018-1a7akv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=128&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186703/original/file-20170920-20018-1a7akv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=160&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186703/original/file-20170920-20018-1a7akv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=160&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186703/original/file-20170920-20018-1a7akv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=160&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Components of Australia’s Earth-observation space capabilities (click to zoom for a clearer view)</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.aeoccg.org.au/">Australian Earth Observation Community Coordination Plan 2026</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Australia spends very little on space</h2>
<p>Although we rely so heavily on downstream space activities in our economic and other operations, Australia invests very little in space: only 0.003% of GDP, according to 2014 figures. </p>
<p><iframe id="7fXSG" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/7fXSG/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Other countries have taken very proactive roles in enabling these industries to develop. Most government space agencies around the world invest 11% to 51% of their funds for developing EO capacity. These investments allow industries and government to build downstream applications and services from secure 24/7 satellite data streams.</p>
<p><iframe id="P3Fis" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/P3Fis/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Historically, Australia has invested heavily in research and research infrastructure to produce world leading capabilities in the science of <a href="http://www.ska.gov.au">astronomy</a>, <a href="http://www.serc.org.au">space-debris</a> <a href="http://www.cdscc.nasa.gov">tracking and space exploration communications</a>. </p>
<p>In EO there are no comparable national programs or infrastructure, nor have we contributed to international capability at the same levels as these areas. This seems strange given:</p>
<ul>
<li>our world leading status in applied research and extensive government use of these data as fully operational essential and critical information streams</li>
<li>all of the reports requesting increases in <a href="http://www.spaceindustry.com.au/Documents/SIAA%20White%20Paper%20-%20Advancing%20Australia%20in%20Space.pdf">government support and enabling for “space” industry</a> cite our reliance on EO as essential, but then don’t present paths forward for it</li>
<li>there are now a number of well established and growing small companies focused on delivering essential environmental, agricultural, grazing, energy supply and infrastructure monitoring services using EO, and </li>
<li>we have a well organised EO community across research, industry and government, with <a href="http://www.aeoccg.org.au/aeocp-the-plan">a clearly articulated national strategic plan to 2026</a>. </li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184667/original/file-20170905-28041-28wxaw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184667/original/file-20170905-28041-28wxaw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184667/original/file-20170905-28041-28wxaw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184667/original/file-20170905-28041-28wxaw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184667/original/file-20170905-28041-28wxaw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184667/original/file-20170905-28041-28wxaw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184667/original/file-20170905-28041-28wxaw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184667/original/file-20170905-28041-28wxaw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Example of an information delivery service built from Earth observation data streams to deliver property level information to graziers and others land-holders (click to zoom for a clearer view).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">P Tickle, FarmMap4D</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Building Australia’s EO capacity</h2>
<p>EO plays a vital role in many aspects of Australian life. Australia’s state and Commonwealth agencies, along with research institutions and industry have already built essential tools to routinely deliver satellite images in a form that can be developed further by private industry and delivered as services. </p>
<p>But our lack of a coordinating space agency adds a layer of fragility to vital EO operations as they currently stand.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-the-world-embraces-space-the-50-year-old-outer-space-treaty-needs-adaptation-79833">As the world embraces space, the 50 year old Outer Space Treaty needs adaptation</a>
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<p>This places a very large amount of Commonwealth, state and local government activity, economic activity and essential infrastructure at risk, as <a href="http://www.crcsi.com.au/assets/Resources/CRCSI-The-Value-of-Earth-Observations-from-Space-to-Australia-Final-web.pdf">multiple recent national reviews have noted</a>.</p>
<p>Our federal government started to address the problem with its <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Publications/Pages/Australias-Satellite-Utilisation-Policy.aspx">2013 Satellites Utilisation Policy</a>, and will hopefully build on this following the current rounds of extensive consultation for the <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Pages/Review-of-Australian-Space-Industry-Capability.asp">Space Industry Capability Review</a>. </p>
<p>Although our private EO upstream and downstream industry capabilities are currently small, they are world leading, and if they were enabled with government-industry support in a way that the <a href="http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/Default.asp">Canadian Space Agency</a>, the <a href="http://www.esa.int/ESA">European Space Agency</a>/<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/index_en">European Commission</a> and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-space-agency">UK Space Agency</a> do, we could build this sector. </p>
<p>If Australia is to realistically participate in the “Space 2.0” economy, we need to act now and set clear goals for the next five, ten and 20 years. EO can be a pillar for this activity, enabling significant expansion of our upstream and downstream industries. This generates jobs and growth and addresses national security concerns. </p>
<p>That should be a win for all sectors in Australia – and we can finally give back and participate globally in space.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Data sources for figure “Proportion of space budget spent on different capacities”: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/fy_2017_budget_mission_directorate_fact_sheets.pdf">NASA</a>; ESA - <a href="http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2017/01/ESA_budget_2017_by_domain">here</a> and <a href="http://esamultimedia.esa.int/multimedia/publications/Annual-Report-2015/">here</a>; <a href="http://global.jaxa.jp/projects/">JAXA</a>; PDF report on <a href="http://www.springer.com/cda/content/document/cda_downloaddocument/9783319194721-c1.pdf?SGWID=0-0-45-1513274-p177396349">China</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82985/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart Phinn receives funding from the Australian Government, Australian Research Council, Cooperative Research Centre Program, and is Chair of the Australian Earth Observation Community Coordination Group.</span></em></p>Weather forecasting, bushfire management, power and water supply: Australia relies on earth observations to the tune of A$5 billion a year. But we have very little control over the data we get.Stuart Phinn, Professor of Geography, Director - Remote Sensing Research Centre, Chair - Australian Earth Observation Community Coordination Group, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.