Innovative use of space technologies in the energy, environment and

environmental monitoring, meteorology, agriculture and forestry

sectors

Aire OleskEstonian Trainee in ESA-ESRIN

University of Tartu/Tartu Observatory

Pärnu 26.08.2013

Driving force behind Innovation in Space Technologies

The changing Earth - monitoring the progress

Not only science, but politics, economy and daily life of citizens profit from satellite data

Improved understanding and predictions, ensuring sustainability

Global coverage, rapid measurement capability and continuity

Space Technologies and Applications

Earth Observation weather forecasting, environmental monitoring, mapping, emergencies

Satellite navigation navigation, surveying, search and rescue, precise agriculture

Telecommu-nications television, radio, internet, military

NanoSatsminiaturized satellites for space research(for example ESTCube-1)

Integrated Applications

The benefits of space-based (EO)platforms

Global coverage Frequent revisit and up-to-date

information Large range of swath size

(e.g. coverage in a single acquisition) and resolution ranging from less thana metre to km-s

Ability to see through cloud and at night (e.g Synthetic Aperature Radar)

Rapid disaster management (prediction and monitoring, real-time decision-making)

Large store of archived data and continuity of missions allowing long term research into e.g. climate change, biomass etc.

Sentinel-1

Innovative use of space technologies in the energy sector

DInSAR Measuring the subsidence at underground mining areas Measuring the geological stability of oil and gas fields

and pipe-lines, of large urban areas and single buildings Subsidence information for power line poles and bridges

Data: TerraSar-X, Tandem-X, Radarsat-2, Sentinel-1, Cosmo-Skymed, SMOS etc

EO satellites also produce 'sunshine maps' to help site solar power plants and bench-mark their operating efficiently'

Hydroenergy prediction (amount of precipitation, water capacity and speed of melting)

Wind speed and storm predictions (wind and solar farms)

Exploration and exploitation of oil and gas

Innovative use of space technologies in the energy sector

Mean subsidence/riseof buildings in Tartu (mm per year)

Period: 1993-2001

Source: ERS-1/-2

Innovative use of space technologies in the environment and environmental monitoring sector

GOME-2 is observing the recovery of the ozone layer

Atmosphere

Cryosat has revealed the loss of ice in Arctic regions

Cryosphere

SMOS monitors the salinity and amount of water held in the surface layers

Ocean

Land cover mapping supports management of urban areas and detecting land cover change

Land Cover

EO satellites help to monitor and assist the destruction caused by tsunamis/earthquakes

Disaster management

SAR allows us to see the volcanoes “breath” and detect the ground displacements

Tectonics

Helping relief efforts in Japan - map of terrain displacement

InSAR-synthetic aperture radar interferometry

Possible to detect ground motion down to a few millimetres

Innovative use of space technologies in the environment and environmental monitoring sector

Arctic sea-ice thickness based on two months' worth of data from the ESA’s ice mission, CryoSat-2. 

The first SMOS global map of soil moisture and ocean salinity

Innovative use of space technologies in meteorology sector

Accurate weather prediction and long term global climate change (EUMETSAT)

Short term and long term atmospheric changes on both, local and global scale

Weather warnings (monitor the volcanic eruptions and ash clouds, hurricanes, dust storms)

Satellites monitor the air we breath

Storm Ulli, EUMeTrain 2012

The mean density of nitrogen dioxide over Europe between January 2003 and June 2004, as measured by the SCIAMACHY instrument on ESA's Envisat satellite. Source: ESA, University of Heidelberg

Agriculture

Food security and precise agriculture- Improve agricultural yield forecasting capabilities (crop health, nutrient deficiency, weather, soil, growth speed)- Steer tractors with centimetre-accuracy to improve farming

EU subsidies for farmers

- Grassland cutting detection - Conservation of landscapes and biodiversity

Vegetation classification and monitoring

- Growth stages and indices (e.g Leaf Area Index) - Fire damage mapping

Soil fertility

- Soil moisture, erosion, irrigation, draught assessment, types of stress

Innovative use of space technologies in forestry sector

Forests cover about 30% of Earth's land surface area

Global observations

Forests absorb, release and store carbon

Carbon accounting

Storm and forest fires damage estimation, deforestation

Change detection

Forest height and stem volume estimation

Biomass

Innovative use of space technologies in forestry sector

• Timber value estimation• Reforestation validation• Selective logging• Thinning and clearcut detection• Carbon stock for GHG inventories• Storm/fire damage estimation

Country-wide forest biomass estimates from PALSAR L-band backscatter in 2010, Source: Regio Ltd, ESA

Logging detection in Estonia in 2011-2012 Source: Regio Ltd, DMCii

Innovative use of space technologies in forestry sector

Earth’s Northern Biomass mapped and measured

In higher resolution than ever before (pixel = 1 km on ground)

About 70 000 ENVISAT images from 2009-2011 combined to create the pan-boreal map for 2010

Will be continued by the future Sentinel-1 mission

ESA’s seventh Earth Explorer is a Biomass mission (first P-band SAR mission, plus an experimental “tomographic” phase to provide 3D views of forests)

Copernicus – The European Earth Observation Programme

- Copernicus - one of the two largest EU/ESA space programmes (in addition to Galileo) to stimulate innovation in European industry

- Collects data from multiple sources: earth observation satellites and in situ sensors such as ground stations, airborne and sea-borne sensors

- Copernicus (previously GMES) services address six main thematic areas: Land Monitoring, Marine Monitoring, Atmosphere Monitoring, Emergency Management, Security, Climate Change

- Based on the Copernicus services, many other value-added services can be tailored to more specific public or commercial needs.

- This will create new business opportunities and has a huge potential for job creation, innovation and growth.

- A free and open data policy - Promotes growth and competitiveness in the EU

ESA’s Artes 20 programme

Integrated Applications Promotion (IAP) - the development of operational services for a wide range of users through the combinationof different systems

Cross-fertilisation across disciplines (e.g. impact of Climate on Health, on Energy, on Transport, etc...)

Example: Coastal flood warning system for the Baltic Sea (Pärnu City Government and Regio Ltd)

Integrated Applications

- Severe floods in January 2005 in Pärnu caused by strong storms and heavy rain

- 50 MEUR damage according to Estonian government estimations

Proposed IAP Solution:– Web application presenting the flood

forecast information http://space.regio.ee/iap/web/app.php/

– Cellular network text service disseminating the flood warning messages

– Flood maps presenting the current situationand the evolution of the flooded area based on forecast

Educational and outreach projects

– ESTCube-1 is the first Estonian satellite, launched in May 2013

– Built in Estonia by students from Tartu University, Estonian Aviation Academy, Tallinn University of Technology and University of Life Sciences

– The main mission of the satellite is to test the electric solar wind sail

– It also helps to build Estonian infrastructure for future space projects and to educate space engineers

Image by ESTCube-1

Thank you for your attention!

Studies are supported by European Social Fund’s Doctoral Studies and Internationalisation Programme DoRa, which is carried out by Foundation Archimedes.