The Arctic loses 74,000 km² of summer sea ice each year
Annie Spratt, Unsplash
The Arctic loses 74,000 km² of summer sea ice each year - almost 13 per cent per decade. The shrinking ice opens up the region to shipping and resource extraction, which carries environmental risks. To cope with these challenges, the ARCOS project has developed a monitoring system that combines Sentinel satellite data, ground-based measurements and artificial intelligence. This system tracks changes such as marine activity and ice conditions to help prevent environmental threats.
In 2023, South America will lose 20,000 km² of rainforest - the equivalent area of Slovenia. The RapidAI4EO project has created a unique dataset to train AI models that analyse satellite imagery to monitor land use. Using Sentinel-2 and Planet Fusion data, the technology helps detect changes in ecosystems and prevent destruction.
Oceans absorb 30% of carbon dioxide and provide 17% of animal protein for the world's population. The SEAMLESS project improves Copernicus Marine Service (CMEMS) models with new data integration techniques to help predict harmful events such as algal blooms and sea level rise.
Another project, CERTO, harmonises water quality data from the three Copernicus services, facilitating their use. At the same time, WQeMS has implemented an emergency water quality monitoring system that tracks events such as oil spills and harmful emissions.
The SEEDS project is using Sentinel-5P data to create new datasets on pollutant emissions, including ammonia and ozone. These data have improved air quality predictions, laying the groundwork for future monitoring technologies.
With the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, the CURE and CONFESS projects have focused on urban adaptation to climate change. CURE developed applications for urban planning, enabling improved cooling and emission reduction strategies. CONFESS improved climate forecasts, helping the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) to provide accurate data to combat climate change.
The CoCO2 project has developed a prototype system for monitoring CO2 and CH4 emissions that will become fully operational by 2026.
