A lot has happened in the Earth Observation (EO) world over the last couple of weeks, Cryosat-2 has exceeded expectations with the data it has returned from Antarctica and Terrasar-X is now returning 3-D images of the planet. I’ve looked at the images, but I have to ask myself - so what?
Cryosat-2 has been flying for about 3 months now, only half way through its commission and has given the first ice thickness measurements. No doubt it is going to show the ice is getting thinner, cracking up in unexpected places and the glaciers are melting. But, is anyone going to do something about it? Can we do anything about it?
Terrasar-X comprises two synthetic aperture radar satellites that will soon start to return 3-D images of the world in spectacular resolution. The images here show Madagascar (see image above) and Moscow (see image below), with the Sheremetyevo Airport clearly visible, as are the rivers, lakes and urban environment. The yellow dots in the Madagascar image are actually ocean waves scattering the radar reflections.
Terrasar-X can detect minor tectonic shifting of the Earth’s crust, hydrology in the soil; quantify global biomass as well as changes in oceanography and ice coverage. It will also provide 3-D height and contour measurements of the Earth, providing information for all sorts of things such as urban planning, maps, disaster planning and relief, as well as climate modeling.
The Terrasar-X images, such as the one of Sylt Island mud flats in The Wadden Sea in North Frisia (see top image), are important to help understand the effects of global climate change and sea level rising. The mud flats around Sylt Island are important breeding grounds for ocean and bird life, its health being highly dependent upon ocean currents, temperatures and tidal flow. Monitoring the 7000sq.km (2700sq.mile) area is possible only from space observations, and will give early indications of global climate change affecting this important habitat.
The coming decade will bring many thousands of more images and terabytes of data, for both climate change believers and naysayers to argue over.
So what?...even though I wish it would be different, I know that these expensive to obtain and greenhouse gas intensive space images will probably not change anyone’s mind or behavior about global climate change. The people who use these images already know what the problems are. It's those people who refuse to understand what the images are showing us, or act upon what they see, that I ask of them ...so what?
Visit: http://www.infoterra.de/
Trevor Williams is a University of Victoria Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate specializing in renewable energy, power grid modeling and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. He has a bachelors in Aeronautical Engineering, a Masters in Management Science and over 23 years international experience in the space industry, having worked on Earth observation and telecommunications satellites. He is the author of the Eco-Geek blog.
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