Page - 16 - in options, Volume winter 2019

hen the first Earthrise was televised just over 50 years ago, we humans saw what a fragile, shimmering bauble it is we cling to. Since then, images snapped in space and from satellites keep us updated on the biosphere’s progress under what, it has to be said, is our poor stewardship to date. Consider the public and political outcry over the recent Amazon fires. Earth observation (EO) satellite data provided enough powerful authority to move public opinion, create new policies and, hopefully, it will also ultimately help better manage land use. Such valuable satellite images are also providing timely evidence of a plethora of land use changes that will help citizens and governments act to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To support action on sustainable development and climate change, EO data are being transformed into useful tools and services. According to Dmitry Shchepashchenko, an IIASA Ecosystems Services and Management Program researcher and coauthor of a comprehensive paper overviewing the new tools and services available to land watchers, the challenge is interpreting this overwhelming flow of data accurately. “We use very high resolution (VHR) satellite imagery to keep an eye on Earth. The more free imagery is available, the better we can monitor and alert,” he says. Low orbit is now filled with what are basically high-resolution cameras that are recording the planet’s changing patterns and informing us how Earth is being transformed moment to moment. The cost of acquiring these images has also been radically reduced since the 1970s and many are available to users at no cost. A turn of the century engineering challenge – to fit a satellite in a box the size of a hand-sized FOR CLUES TO EARTH’S FATE, LOOK TO THE EYES IN SPACE Satellite-based Earth observation is an important source of baseline information when developing global models of land use and land use change. IIASA researchers are at the vanguard of interpreting a new flood of this data for clues to our survival. W 16 Options www.iiasa.ac.atWinter 2019/20