As extreme weather events become more severe and more frequent, scientists around the world are looking for ways to control climate change. Satellites can be crucial in monitoring developments from above, as countries compete to reduce emissions under the Paris Agreement. The European Space Agency (ESA) is working to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement by providing technology, as 200 countries reaffirmed their commitment to climate action at the UN COP26 climate conference last year in Glasgow.
“The satellites have provided evidence and documents about the global climate system for a long time,” said Michaela Hegglin, a specialist in atmospheric chemistry at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. It is working with ESA to develop a research plan for remote sensing in support of the Paris Agreement. Earth observation satellites will be used to contribute to the global inventory, a five-year evaluation cycle aimed at increasing global ambitions and developing future climate action. Prof. Hegglin said: “It is at the national level where Earth observation can support activities such as reporting emissions; controlling carbon sources and sinks, such as forests; and providing important local information for the adaptation process.”
Emission monitoring is the most advanced application for space remote sensing of the Earth; satellites can detect trends in natural sources of greenhouse gases, such as methane and carbon dioxide, in remote or hard-to-reach parts of the world, and Hegglin also intends to use satellites to detect human emission hotspots as rapidly evolving applications.
The Copernicus Sentinel Expansion 5P, like the upcoming Copernicus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Monitoring, CO2M mission, is one of six Copernicus Sentinel Expansion missions developed by ESA for the EU to enable and identify opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in oil and gas fields. Urban areas and high-energy facilities, such as power plants, have the opportunity to identify and target opportunities to reduce greenhouse gases.
In underdeveloped countries, where in-situ measurement networks are limited, growing space sensing technology verifies national greenhouse gas reports and announces inventories of forestry, agriculture, and other changes. land use.
ESA uses new methods using its RECAP-2 project to improve estimates of surface carbon flows between the atmosphere, land, and ocean based on a technique known as inverse atmospheric modeling. They will use an empirical satellite approach to measure greenhouse gases. Agencies can compare this data with national estimates using this independent data source.