1.Introduction

Welcome to the fifth edition (February 2024) of the newsletter from the PROTECT project that provides an update on the developments in the market regarding climate services based on Earth Observation (EO). The focus is on five application domains, namely: Energy & Utilities, Sustainable Urban Communities, Agriculture, Forestry and other Land use, Marine and Coastal Environments and Civil Security and Protection.

2.Market Updates

The following section provides updates on the current developments, news and evolution of the Earth observation market, particularly with regard to the evolution of climate services relevant for the public authorities in Europe.

Energy & Utilities

  • Mobile GIS Services a UK-based provider of geospatial software for utility companies, raised £600K in funding;
  • Google is partnering with MethaneSAT to provide AI, cloud and mapping services to monitor methane emissions from around the world;
  • ESA has selected a Dutch satellite system to monitor greenhouse gas emissions at source level from power plants, coal mines, landfills and factories;

Sustainable Urban Communities

  • The average global temperature has for the first time breached the critical benchmark of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels over 12 months, according to data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S);
  • The C3S has launched Climate Pulse, a new interactive application that gives a concise and precise picture of the near-real time status of our climate;

Agriculture, Forestry and other Land use

  • DLR conducted a survey of German forests and found that the horizontal and vertical structure has changed in recent years;

Marine and Coastal Environments

  • Spire was awarded contracts worth multi-million euros by the European Maritime Safety Agency to provide automatic identification system data for vessel traffic monitoring;
  • Satellites are becoming increasingly important in providing unique information on ocean health to guide climate mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Civil Security and Protection

  • Greece announced plans to invest EUR 60M to develop its national constellation to provide optical, multispectral, and hyperspectral data;
    Swiss startup Jua, which aims to build a foundational model for the natural world, using EO data among other sources, has raised $16M in seed funding.

3.Summary

February saw an increased focus on the announcement of new initiatives to monitor climate change from space and contribute to the efforts of climate adaptation. The Greek government decided to invest in launching its own national constellation to monitor and prepare for the impact of climate change such as wildfires, droughts and urban planning, while the Dutch proposal to build a satellite constellation to track emissions from energy infrastructure and utilities got approval from the ESA. On the private sector front, companies such as Jua and Mobile GIS got funding to build EO-based solutions for monitoring critical infrastructure and preparing for extreme weather events. The interest in using EO technologies by both public and private sector continues to increase as global warming reaches new extremes.