Thermal images from space bring new perspectives to global climate challenges at COP28
At COP21 in 2015, leaders from around the world agreed to limit the rising temperature of the earth by 1.5°c by 2050. In order to remain on target, we must halve emissions by 2030. We have seven years to make good on this promise.
At this year's COP28 UAE policy makers, innovators and climate disruptors alike have a great opportunity to “rethink, reboot, and refocus the climate agenda”.
2023; the hottest year in history
We’re all experiencing the effects of climate change first hand, whether that’s extreme temperatures, unprecedented water shortages or excessive wildfires…
There’s a lot we can do, and COP28 is meant to be our call to action;
“We must reduce emissions. We must fix climate finance and make it more available, affordable, and accessible. We must protect nature, lives, and livelihoods and ensure sustainable, fair, socio economic development for all.”
- Dr. Sultan Al Jaber President Designate, COP28 UAE.
Innovative tech and ESG
Data-led decision making is fundamental to the mission to repair and regenerate our planet, as is the ability to monitor progress and hold countries and organisations to account on climate goals.
At SatVu we believe in the power of technology, and the insights we can gain from it to continue driving sustainable environmental, social and corporate governance – a key weapon in the world’s ‘climate fighting’ arsenal.
Our revolutionary HOTSAT-1 satellite captures thermal images in the highest resolution currently possible, 3.5m GSD NADIR, providing independently validated, unbiased qualitative data to help organisations hold themselves accountable to their ESG goals.
SatVu is already working with public, private, academic and not-for-profit organisations to provide thermal data helping to monitor a wide range of environmental challenges.
Applications include:
Solar farm monitoring
Industrial activity monitoring
Wildfire monitoring
Waste heat identification
Pollution monitoring
Emergency response
COP28 inspired us to showcase how our technology can be used in the fight against climate change. We recently captured thermal images of both the COP venue in Dubai and the nearby Ruwais oil refinery. These images offer a new way of visualising the built and natural environment, this time in the United Arab Emirates.
Use Case #1 – Urban heat island effect – COP28 venue
Images captured by HOTSAT-1 also offer insights into built environments, which can help governments and organisations to better visualise and understand the impact of climate change on urban areas. This can include thermal data showing waste heat sources and the impact of the urban heat island effect.
What can we see?
The two deep blue structures represent the Exhibition centre in the Blue Zone, where formal negotiations are being hosted during the conference.
The smaller blue patches above the metro station and within the venue shows the cooler temperatures created by parks and green areas.
The dark orange colour of the roads and paved areas indicate temperatures much hotter than the surrounding desert, demonstrating the urban heat island effect. The temperature differences are caused by how well the surfaces in both the urban and rural areas can absorb and hold heat.
Use Case #2 – Industrial Activity Monitoring – Ruwais Oil Refinery
High resolution infrared images offer a huge amount of insight into industrial activity, such as the output, production and operational status of energy infrastructure.
What can we see?
The orange spots in the centre of the image indicate the activity levels across the refinery. It tells us that the site is operating, and can also indicate what specific events and processes are taking place and the capacity at which it’s operating.
The yellow patch to the top right is an example of thermal pollution, where we see hot water being dumped into colder water (the sea, in this case).
Further circular orange spots to the left evidence gas flaring, which occurs when the natural gases produced by extracting crude oil are burned.
At the bottom centre of the image, dark blue and yellow circles indicate storage tanks of different temperatures.
These two images show the value of high-res thermal imaging in climate monitoring. The data from HOTSAT-1 can help to inform the goal setting, actioning and delivery of climate change mitigation and ESG measurements, in line with the commitments made at this year’s COP.