Posts Tagged ‘earth observation’
World Water Week 2010 – Seen From Above
This week is World Water Week. The big event takes place in Stockholm Sweden where Stockholm International Water Institute SIWI is organizing this, since 1991, yearly event. This year the topic, besides the fact that it is all about water of course, is The Water Quality Challenge: Prevention, Wise Use and Abatement.
Access to clean water and proper sanitation is one of the 8 millenium goals. Better understanding of the water cycle is thus an important task for our global society, particularly in the developing countries. With increased urbanizations in areas where access to fresh water seems to be in peril makes events like World Water Week and research connected to better understanding of the water cycle an even high political and scientific priority. The overall niche for the current World Water Week period 2009-2012 is Water – Responding To Global Change.
Observing inland water from space
Earth observations from space have been used as a source of information about water for many years. We’ve seen satellite images of various floods on numerous occasions. The immense flood in Pakistan is particularly impressive in the many satellite images from both ESA and NASA satellites.
The region of southern Pakistan shown here includes the Sindh Province. The Indus River can be seen snaking across the image from lower left to upper right. The feature near the bottom and left of center is Manchhar Lake. Water is apparent in shades of blue and cyan, though sediment content can add a tan color, as in the upper right. Clouds appear white. Credit: NASA
This image shows a 100×500 km strip of the flood area in Pakistan. The image was generated from all-weather ESA's Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR). The image illustrates the difference between 24 August and a reference image of 8 September 2009. The areas shown in blue are inundated regions. Credits: ESA
New space-based observation techniques are emerging though. ESA’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity – SMOS has the potential of becoming an additional space-based technique to underpin our understanding – and warning of potentially hazards floods – by giving information about the degree of water saturation of the soil in the vicinity of rivers like Indus. If the soil is saturated with moisture at the point when rivers are flooding the uptake of water by surrounding soil will be limited.
ESA's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite sees the flood in Pakistan - and also potentially how much the surrounding soil is saturated with water. Credit: ESA - CESBIO
In May I talked to one of the pioneers in the field of satellite altimetry and SMOS expert on retrieving information about soil moisture – professor Philippa Berry. You can watch and learn here:
or directly here:
The problem in Pakistan and right now is too much water, but the areas downstream from the Himalayas have also the opposite problem, namely too little water. This particular complex problem is discussed in a feasibility study ordered by The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is a challenge for the people in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas to adapt to the increased climatic risk of severe floods and droughts. Read the report Too much – Too little Water: Adaptation to Climate Change in the Hindu Kush Himalayas and Central Asia.
With the help of another kind of satellite, GRACE, measuring variations in gravity, one is able to see that ground water is retracting from large areas in India. This vanishing of groundwater is mainly due to human activities like irrigation of cropland. Water management is clearly done better with the help of space based observations.
In the period 2002 - 2008 GRACE data show that Northern India is loosing a lot of its groundwater (red). Credit: NASA
Polar Science: What’s in it for you?
The polar regions are far, far away for most people. Do not count me in among ‘most people’ though. As a Norwegian I practically live in the Arctic. There are only 8 nations that are (partly) situated in the Arctic: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia and USA Several countries claim rights in Antarctica, which is regulated by the Antarctic Treaty . Sometimes we talk about a third pole, namely The Himalayas. Common for all three regions are remoteness and inaccessibility.
Courtesy of Nordpil. Map of the Arctic.
Polar exploration is deeply founded in the Norwegian identity, yet I have no difficulty understanding why people outside polar regions ask themselves What’s in it for me? How can we defend using so much resources and efforts on science constrained to these remote regions?
This week, the 4th* International Polar Year (2007-2008) will be summarized, analyzed and future follow-up plans developed at the biggest polar gathering ever: the IPY Oslo Science Conference.
Photo: John Petter Reinertsen/ Samfoto CEO of the The Research Council of Norway, Arvid Hallén greets HRH Crown Prince Haakon. Several honorables support the IPY Oslo Science Conference. Prince Albert of Monaco visited the conference's 1st day 8th June 2010.
At this point it is a bit early to say whether the results from the 2007-2008 IPY will be equally important as the last of this kind of scientific feast, the International Geophysical Year (IGY) in 1957-1958 turned out to be. IGY coincided with or marked the start of the space race and the birth of space geodesy. (Vanguard 2, see video), no small achievement on any scale or from any perspective, and can definitely be defended when it comes to the use of resources versus societal benefit.
I will be attending the IPY Oslo Science Conference keeping a keen eye on the space based polar science. For numerous reasons, there were very few satellites covering the arctic and antarctic regions. I will also look for examples of inter-disciplinary research and apply a special twist to the information. By the end of the conference I hope I will have answered the question What’s in it for YOU? through my daily reports and articles. If you are not satisfied with the reasons presented in the official IPY documents, that is.
* The former polar years where in 1882-83, 1932-33, 1957-58 (International Geophysical Year was modeled after the two previous polar years and included polar activities).
Volcanoes
One single remotely situated volcano managed to close down the entire European air space for days. The volcano on Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland, the small country far north in the middle of the North-Atlantic, may have been known to volcanologists and other geoscientists with a keen interest in a geophysical hot spot like Iceland. But to the rest of us Eyjfjalljökull was unknown until the massive flight cancellations in Europe caused by its ash cloud. Today, Eyjafjalljökull is world famous – though pronouncing its name remains a mystery.
The Eyjafjallajökull ash cloud. Credit: Icelandic Meteorological Office
One who knew Eyjafjallajökull very well long before it erupted, is Dr. Kristin Vogfjord. Working as Research Director at the Icelandic Meteorological Office she led a European research project on volcanoes and her group’s contribution were monitoring and analysis of the seismic activity on Eyjafjallajökull. Kristin tells us how the volcanic eruption still managed to surprise her and how the ash is produced in A Green Space – A Green Earth’s volcano edition.
Earth observations from space are being used in all phases of volcanic eruptions; before, during and after. NASA scientists (Dr. Andrea Donnellan and Dr. Paul Lundgren) and leading experts on GPS and InSAR, two space based instruments and techniques applied in all three phases of an eruption, explain how they work and are being used. In particular you’ll learn how closely linked earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are. In fact, we illustrate the geophysical crème brûlée model using a genuine crème brûlée (a delicious French desert).
Eyjafjallajökull did disrupt our lives for days, but there were no casualties. When Mount St. Helens erupted 30 years ago, more than 50 persons lost their lives, including USGS volcanologist David A. Johnston on his observation post. USGS is commemorating Mount St. Helens devastating reawakening on May 18th 1980 with a series of events this summer and fall. We show some of the unique materials made available by USGS and explain why it was so lethal.
Seemingly there is nothing but trouble with these volcanoes. In fact, we can turn it completely around and say there wouldn’t be life on this planet without them. Volcanoes contribute in several ways to keep the Earth system in balance and A Green Space – A Green Earth’s Volcano edition gives you a few examples of how.
Finally, if you would like to impress your friends and colleagues by learning how to pronounce Eyjafjallajökull, you can watch this episode over and over again because I say Eyjafjalljökull, like the Icelandic, numerous times. This information might perhaps assist you in your efforts: Eyja=island, fjalla=mountain and jökull=glacier. Good luck!
Chasing Water
The limited amount of water on this planet is recycled in what we simply call the water cycle. Chasing water’s whereabouts in this cycle is complicated. Space techniques provide us with an increased number of observations of water in the various elements of the water cycle.
In the ‘Chasing Water’ episode of A Green Space – A Green Earth we focus on a technique that has been operational for 17 years now, namely satellite altimetry.
Satellite altimetry: Jason-2. Courtesy of NASA
Satellite altimetry technique. Copyright 2010 © EUMETSAT
Currently the satellite Jason-2 is orbiting Earth, measuring sea surface height. Ocean observations was the original motive for these types of missions, but they have turned out to be more useful than first anticipated. Satellite altimetry is now also being used for monitoring inland waters such as rivers and lakes, and thus other elements of the water cycle.
Meet veteran altimetry expert Dr Ole Andersen and pioneer professor Philippa Berry and hear them talk about satellite altimetry and how it is being used today.
Fresh water will become more scarce in years to come. That includes highly populated areas, such as California in the USA. Deforestation is still a serious problem in developing countries. Chasing water with satellites is and will continue to be of great importance to our society.
Further reading:
ESA on water cycle
Jason-2
Mean Sea Level data from satellite altimetry
Climategate: To Share Or Not To Share
Climategate: To Share Or Not To Share
Climategate or no climategate? Availability of climate data is one element of the so-called Climategate, the hacker incident at East Anglia University in the UK that revealed parts of an email communication among a group of international climate scientists. The fundamental factor for the science in this case, is the question of whether the data, the facts concerning climate, is correct or not. The scientific community outside the East Anglia group, wanted access to the data upon which the research was based. In this episode of A Green Space – A Green Earth I focus on data sharing: To share or not to share. Are there any obstacles?
2009 Ends Warmest Decade on Record - Global Temperature 2009. Courtesy of NASA
2009 Ends Warmest Decade on Record. Global Temperature 2000. Courtesy of NASA
Open data policy is fundamental for modern research. Scientific communities are global and we need global earth observation data to understand the Earth system. If we look beyond the data, and analyze the scientific work method (not scientific method; that is timeless and independent of context), the modern, more open society, demands more of the scientific communities.
Links and further reading:
Nature (magazine) on climate data theft and pressure on scientists
Summary from GEO in DC (Earthzine)
From BBC: ‘Show Your Working’: What ‘ClimateGate’ means. By Mike Hulme East Anglia University and Dr Jerome Ravetz
ESA open data policy.
Sentinels: ESA and EC data policy implementation strategy.
“ESA has developed the Climate Change Initiative to generate, preserve and give access to long-term data sets of the essential climate variables and make them freely available to climate research and modelling communities worldwide,”
Group on Earth Observations – GEO
Climategate: To share Or Not To Share will be updated..
The Science Behind The Haiti Earthquake
The Science Behind The Haiti Earthquake.
We take a closer look at the science behind the Haiti earthquake of 12th January 2009 – as well as other earthquakes. For the first time here on GSGE we interview leading experts;
Prof. Timothy Dixon from Geodesy Lab at University of Miami: published an article already back in 1998 revealing the risks of earthquakes in Haiti. He works with both Paul Mann from University of Texas who in 2008 confirmed that the risks were eminent, and Eric Calais, Purdue University who manages the GPS network that monitor tectonic plate movements in Haiti. These three groups have sent geodesists with GPS equipment, to Haiti where they gather data that will reveal the crustal movements caused by the quake. You can follow this National Science Foundation funded team via their blog.
Ass. Prof. William Hammond from University of Nevada in Reno: Explains how they use GPS to monitor plate movements – and earthquake swarms. Bill Hammond also appears in National Geographic’s Naked Science: Earthquake Swarms.
Dr. Amir Kaynia from the International Centre for Geohazards in Oslo, Norway: Talks about the difference between predictions and early warning and discuss other geohazards connected to earthquakes.
The Hispaniola Island as seen from The International Space Station. Courtesy of NASA
Read more about the early warning and mitigation aspects in The Haiti Earthquake: Science, early warning and mitigation.
Some useful and informative links:
National Science Foundation’s GPS team blog from Haiti:
GEO’s Haiti Supersite. Collection of Haiti earthquake science information.
Eric Calais’s Haiti site. (responsible for the tectonic plate movements Haitian GPS network together with local Haitian authorities).
Haiti Earthquake at University of Miami
Haiti Earthquake at University of Texas.
The International Centre for Geohazards:
The Global Geodetic Observing System (GPS is a space-based geodetic technique. Provision of global GPS data is one of the services of Global Geodetic Observing System)
Complete Tectonic Plate Boundaries. Courtesy of University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada Geodetic Laboratory/Corne Kreemer
A Green Space – A Green Earth June 2009
This month A Green Space – A Green Earth focus on disaster mitigation and early warnings and how space based Earth observations contributes to safe-guard lives and property.
New satellite techniques such as InSAR complement GPS in unraveling in fine details crustal movements of the Earth. ESA’s GOCE gravity measurements from space will add knowledge to our understanding of sub-surface movements leading up to earthquakes. Through observing Earth from space before, during and after earthquakes we improve disaster mitigation and early warnings.
Learn more about earthquakes and the examples mentioned in this episode through the following links:
InSAR used at the L’Aquila, Italy earthquake 2009.
Seismic and Medical Tomography
Global Earthquake Model – A OECD program
Indian Ocean Tsunami Disaster 2004 – A portal for more information at University of Buffalo, NY, USA
Wenchuan, China earthquake 2008 – A portal for maps and geophysical information about the earthquake
Wenchuan, China earthquake 2008 in numbers (in Chinese with map from China Earthquake Adminstration)
L’Aquila, Italy earthquake 2009 in pictures – A collection of images in Boston Globe.
Space geodetic techniques – A portal for more information about space based geodetic techniques
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Welcome to A Green Space – A Green Earth
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Welcome to my space here on Astrocast.TV; A Green Space – A Green Earth! Earth observation has been a part of space activities from the very beginning and there are a multitude of applications of it in our society. For me as an astrophysicist, it makes perfect sense to study this particular planet, The Earth; after all we live on it.
Norway is part of Scandinavia, seen in a coat of snow here. I've placed a Sun where I live. 
Credits: ESA/Envisat
I was born and raised and still live in Norway, an extremely privileged country in many ways with its clean environment, abundance of natural resources and plenty of space for all of its less than 5 million people. I know how lucky we are from all my travel and work in other parts of the world. What we have here cannot be taken for granted. Earth observations from space, together with its ground based infrastructure, are powerful tools for management of mother Earth so that we can maximize what nature has given to our home spot.
The Earth - The Blue Marble. Credits: NASA
On A Green Space – A Green Earth I will tell you more about Earth observation in general, its various elements and how they benefit our society. In the first episode, aired on Earth Day 2009, I cover the launching of the first satellite in the European Space Agency’s The Living Planet program, namely the Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer GOCE. GOCE is Europe’s first geodetic satellite and I explain what the Earth science called geodesy is. The launching event is seen from an historical perspective and you will learn about a perhaps less known part of our common space exploration history as well.
In the next episode I will explore what GOCE, and other satellite, can do for mitigation of disasters and other applications within natural hazards. Will we ever be able to predict earthquakes for instance?
Depending on what happens in the world, A Green Space – A Green Earth will look at it from an Earth observation from space perspective. My ambition is to present short stories/news here on this blog between the webcast shows that will feature in the beginning of each month.
I’ll be more than happy to hear from you. Let me know if there are particular topics you would want to learn more about, or events that you think I should know about. I’ll see what I can do to accommodate you!