World Space Week: five HaDEA projects are harnessing the power of space to combat climate change

World Space Week, held annually from 4 to 10 October, is an international celebration of space science and technology. The theme of this year’s edition is ‘Space & Climate Change’, highlighting the crucial role of space technology in monitoring climate change and enabling innovative environmental solutions.

HaDEA is managing an extensive portfolio of space research and innovation projects, funded by Horizon Europe.

Discover five projects that are leveraging space technologies (such as Earth observation) to combat climate change:

• COMPASS is developing a novel methodological framework for climate and impact attribution of extreme weather events, such as storms, heatwaves, and droughts. As climate change increases the frequency and severity of such events, raising awareness and enhancing preparedness is essential. The framework will be validated through various historical and current use cases, thereby providing the scientific foundation for future operational deployment in the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). 
• CORSO is working to enhance the monitoring and verification of anthropogenic (i.e. human-caused) CO₂ emissions. Building on the foundations laid by the CoCO2 project, CORSO aims to refine the European CO₂ Monitoring and Verification Support (MVS) capacity which is currently being developed.
• SCARBOn is designing a pioneering constellation of small satellites to track CO₂ and methane (CH₄) emissions in the Earth’s atmosphere. The innovative SCARBOn concept is built on the combination of a miniaturised static spectrometer sensor (NanoCarb) with an advanced aerosol sensor and seeks to boost Europe’s capacity for greenhouse gas monitoring from space. 
• SDGs-EYES is building a portfolio of decision-making tools to monitor selected Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators, based on data from the six Copernicus services. The project solutions are validated through 5 pilot demonstrations, including the monitoring of fire emissions, extreme temperatures and deforestation. 
• SEED-FD is advancing the prediction of extreme hydrological events. By harnessing the wealth of environmental information provided by Copernicus, the project seeks to enhance the quality of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) flood and drought forecasts, and bolster its hydrological monitoring capabilities.

Background

Horizon Europe is the EU research and innovation programme for the period 2021-2027. Horizon Europe Cluster 4 – Space is supporting the evolution of the EU Space Programme components (incl. Copernicus), and aims to foster the competitiveness of the European Space sector as a whole.

Relevant links

EU Space Research, Development and Innovation

Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S)

Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)