UK EO Climate Information Service (UKEO-CIS)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leicester
Department Name: National Centre for Earth Observation
Abstract
Earth observation from space is the use of sensors on satellites orbiting the Earth to measure the state of the planet. Many important aspects of the Earth's varied environments can be deduced from the satellite measurements. Examples include greenhouse gases, temperature, plants on land and in the sea, fire and its effects, and particulates in the air. The UK has a world-class reputation and capability in measuring these and other environmental factors by Earth observation. In this project, many scientists across the UK will be brought together in a national effort to generate timely information about the environment focussing on aspects relevant to climate. This means not only tracking changes in climate, but also information relevant to working towards "net zero", other ideas for adapting to climate change, and factors affecting health and well-being that interact with climate.
The project will establish a UK Earth-observation Climate Information Service (UKEO CIS), which will efficiently measure the environment from space in a timely manner, improve the quality of the data being generated, and bring data together to make these as accessible as possible to all users. The data will be used for scientific studies, to support policy and decision making, and in the commercial world for services to businesses that need climate information. Throughout the project, scientists will engage with all these groups of users to work together on achieving the maximum benefit from the UKEO CIS.
Most of the data about the climate that UKEO CIS will generate will be global, taking advantage of the worldwide view obtainable from space. Some focus on regions of critical interest for the UK -- the Arctic, Africa and Antarctic. These regions are relevant to understanding climate risks such as sea level rise, greenhouse gases in the environment, and food security. A new focus of the UKEO CIS will be data targeting the UK in greater detail with many 'layers' of information being able to be brought readily together. This will be a new resource for science, policy making and business. Finally, some of the newer forms of data will exploited in innovative studies to demonstrate the scientific progress that can be made with them to bring deeper insight and predictability into climate resilience.
The project will establish a UK Earth-observation Climate Information Service (UKEO CIS), which will efficiently measure the environment from space in a timely manner, improve the quality of the data being generated, and bring data together to make these as accessible as possible to all users. The data will be used for scientific studies, to support policy and decision making, and in the commercial world for services to businesses that need climate information. Throughout the project, scientists will engage with all these groups of users to work together on achieving the maximum benefit from the UKEO CIS.
Most of the data about the climate that UKEO CIS will generate will be global, taking advantage of the worldwide view obtainable from space. Some focus on regions of critical interest for the UK -- the Arctic, Africa and Antarctic. These regions are relevant to understanding climate risks such as sea level rise, greenhouse gases in the environment, and food security. A new focus of the UKEO CIS will be data targeting the UK in greater detail with many 'layers' of information being able to be brought readily together. This will be a new resource for science, policy making and business. Finally, some of the newer forms of data will exploited in innovative studies to demonstrate the scientific progress that can be made with them to bring deeper insight and predictability into climate resilience.
Publications
Balasus N
(2023)
A blended TROPOMI+GOSAT satellite data product for atmospheric methane using machine learning to correct retrieval biases
in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
Bar Somnath
(2024)
Reconstruction of Dynamic vegetation growth through EO and ML over United Kingdom
in Remote Sensing of Environment
Bloomfield K
(2023)
Towards a General Monitoring System for Terrestrial Primary Production: A Test Spanning the European Drought of 2018
in Remote Sensing
Blunden J
(2023)
State of the Climate in 2022
in Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Chavana-Bryant, CCB
(2023)
SCanning Ancient Trees with TERrestrial lidar (SCATTER)
Davison B
(2023)
Antarctic Ice Sheet grounding line discharge from 1996 through 2023
Davison BJ
(2023)
Annual mass budget of Antarctic ice shelves from 1997 to 2021.
in Science advances
Drinkwater A
(2023)
Atmospheric data support a multi-decadal shift in the global methane budget towards natural tropical emissions
in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Friedlingstein P
(2023)
Global Carbon Budget 2023
in Earth System Science Data
| Description | Invited Expert onto the CEOS WGClimate Panel |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Uptake of TAMSAT satellite-derived soil moisture by One Acre Fund |
| Geographic Reach | Africa |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Description | CLEAR Instrument for the UK EO Marine & Climate Mission Programme |
| Amount | £499,515 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | STFC STDA01697 EO4MCM |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2024 |
| End | 03/2025 |
| Description | Copernicus Land Monitoring Service |
| Amount | € 6,000,000 (EUR) |
| Organisation | European Commission |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | European Union (EU) |
| Start | |
| Description | EO4AgroClimate: VISualisation and Assessment of water quality using an Open Data Cube FOR the weStern English chAnnel - Vis4Sea. |
| Amount | £518,632 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ST/Y003039/1 |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2023 |
| End | 04/2025 |
| Description | ESA CCI Climate Modelling User Group |
| Amount | € 1,700,000 (EUR) |
| Organisation | European Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | France |
| Start | 08/2023 |
| End | 08/2026 |
| Description | FLEX DISC |
| Amount | € 16,750,000 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | AO/1-1-11684/23/I-DT |
| Organisation | European Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | France |
| Start | 03/2024 |
| End | 05/2030 |
| Description | Ground-Based Observations for validation (GBOV) of Copernicus Global Land Products - Phase 2 |
| Amount | € 2,000,000 (EUR) |
| Organisation | European Union |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | European Union (EU) |
| Start | 12/2021 |
| End | 12/2025 |
| Description | LSTM L2: LSTM Level 2 Processor/Product development and associated Cal/Val |
| Amount | € 4,400,000 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | ESA-CIP-POE-EF-cb-LE-2022-391 |
| Organisation | European Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | France |
| Start | 03/2023 |
| End | 04/2030 |
| Description | Leveraging Earth Observation (EO) data to Enhance Tree Crop production and their resilience in a changing climate in Australia- FruitSense |
| Amount | £505,775 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ST/Y000129/1 |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2023 |
| End | 03/2025 |
| Description | Methane+ CCN |
| Amount | € 44,553 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | ESA Contract No. 400019987/20/I-DT/1.0 (Methane+) |
| Organisation | European Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | France |
| Start | 08/2022 |
| End | 11/2023 |
| Description | NERC KE Fellows: Drought Risk Information for the African Finance Sector (DRIAFS) |
| Amount | £183,774 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | NE/Y005058/1 |
| Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2024 |
| End | 03/2027 |
| Description | NGS-ASLSTR Sentinel 3 - Next Generation Optical Phase 0/A Scientific Support Study for ASLSTR |
| Amount | € 300,000 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | RFP/3-17953/22/NL/VA |
| Organisation | European Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | France |
| Start | 03/2023 |
| End | 07/2024 |
| Description | NUBICOS - Horizon Europe |
| Amount | £3,470,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 10101542 |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2024 |
| End | 12/2027 |
| Description | Satellite Monitoring of Atmospheric Methane |
| Amount | € 1,500,000 (EUR) |
| Organisation | European Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | France |
| Start | 01/2024 |
| End | 12/2025 |
| Description | Sentinel-4 Level-2 Processor CCN17 |
| Amount | € 38,676 (EUR) |
| Organisation | European Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | France |
| Start | 05/2023 |
| End | 03/2024 |
| Description | Sentinel-5 Level-2 Processor CCN10 |
| Amount | € 57,029 (EUR) |
| Organisation | European Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | France |
| Start | 04/2023 |
| End | 12/2024 |
| Description | TIRCALNet |
| Amount | € 200,000 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | 4000143150/23/I-DT-bgh |
| Organisation | European Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | France |
| Start | 01/2024 |
| End | 06/2025 |
| Description | Transatlantic Data Science Academy Scoping Project |
| Amount | £569,705 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Meteorological Office UK |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2023 |
| End | 07/2024 |
| Description | UKRI FLF - The First Environmental Digital Twin Dedicated to Understanding Tropical Wetland Methane Emissions for Improved Predictions of Climate Change - Rob Parker |
| Amount | £1,600,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | MR/X033139/1 |
| Organisation | United Kingdom Research and Innovation |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2024 |
| End | 03/2028 |
| Title | Africa Soil Moisture |
| Description | Africa-wide estimates of soil moisture and other water balance variables derived using the JULES land surface model and tuned to SMAP satellite soil moisture observations and forced with TAMSAT satellite rainfall estimates from 1983-present at 0.25 degrees spatial resolution. Data are provided with a latency of up to 7 days. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This is the first long-term record of this dataset that is available in near-real time. Full impacts of this dataset are yet to be realised. |
| URL | http://www.tamsat.org.uk |
| Title | Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheet Elevation and Mass Change Data |
| Description | Products Ice sheet elevation and mass balance processed monthly. Quarterly distribution and user report. Annual system reports. Annual scientific reports. Surface elevation change This data product is suitable for investigating where surface elevation change occurs and the rate at which it occurs over the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. The elevation change product can also be used to explore the processes that drive changes to the ice sheets. Ice sheet surface elevation change is indicative of mass change. Mass balance This data product is suitable for understanding the current state and changes to the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. By measuring mass balance at 5 km2 resolution, it will be possible to investigate spatiotemporal variability, where mass changes occur and the rate at which they occur. This information is crucial for estimating the ice sheet contribution to sea level rise. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not known yet |
| URL | http://www.cpom.ucl.ac.uk/eocis/icesheets/ |
| Title | CARDAMOM driving data and C-cycle model outputs to accompany "Scale-variance in the carbon dynamics of fragmented, mixed-use landscapes estimated using Model-Data Fusion" |
| Description | This archive contains the driving data and selected model outputs to accompany the manuscript: Milodowski, D.T., Smallman, T.L., Williams, M. (in submission), "Scale-variance in the carbon dynamics of fragmented, mixed-use landscapes estimated using Model-Data Fusion", Biogeosciences Discussions. Many terrestrial landscapes are heterogeneous. Mixed land cover and land-use generate a complex mosaic of fragmented ecosystems at fine spatial resolutions with contrasting ecosystem stocks, traits and processes, each differently sensitive to environmental and human factors. Representing spatial complexity within terrestrial ecosystem models is a key challenge for understanding regional carbon dynamics, their sensitivity to environmental gradients, and their resilience in the face of climate change. Heterogeneity underpins this challenge due to the trade-off between the fidelity of ecosystem representation within modelling frameworks and the computational capacity required for fine-scale model calibration and simulation. We directly address this challenge by quantifying the sensitivity of simulated carbon fluxes in a mixed-use landscape in the UK to the spatial resolution of the model analysis. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The analysis demonstrated a new methodology for enhancing ecological information gain from observations into process-models while maintaining computational efficiency. In particular, reduces bias in quantification of disturbance events. |
| URL | https://datashare.ed.ac.uk/handle/10283/4849 |
| Title | EOCIS Global Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer Global LST ICDR |
| Description | Climate quality land surface temperatures from the European Space Agency SLSTR instruments on Sentinel 3A and 3B. Daily day and night time LSTs are available in separate files with a spatial resolution of 0.01 degree. This is an interim CDR which extends the time coverage of the ESA CDR and is produced with a timeliness of 7 days. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This is the first time gridded LSTs from the SLSTRs have been available in a timely manner. |
| URL | https://eocis.org/ |
| Title | Sea Ice thickness, volume, mass |
| Description | Arctic sea ice trends are a key indicator of climate change, an obstacle to maritime activities, a factor in habitat loss, and a significant influence on winter time weather in north west Europe. EOCIS sea ice thickness, volume and mass netcdf products are generated monthly by CPOM from radar altimetry measurements taken from the ESA CryoSAT-2 satellite during the winter months1 (Oct-Apr). |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Not known yet |
| URL | http://www.cpom.ucl.ac.uk/eocis/seaice |
| Description | Actionable Information Project - Land Surface Temperature and Health Impacts in the UK |
| Organisation | Assimila Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Provision of and advice on Earth observation based land surface temperature information across the UK. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Analysis of data and anonymised health information, mining for health connections. |
| Impact | Report and assessment for future use of EO LST for health. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Copernicus Climate Change Service |
| Organisation | German Aerospace Centre (DLR) |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Production and provision of multi-year global data sets on aerosol, cloud/radiative fluxes and ozone from satellite observations |
| Collaborator Contribution | Production and provision of other data sets on aerosol, cloud and ozone |
| Impact | Outputs and outcomes from provision of satellite data sets to the Copernicus Climate Change Service are generally not directly traceable to our inputs. However, C3S information is accessed widely by the climate research community and is also accessed by policy makers and media. Journal papers exploiting C3S ozone data as supplied to C3S have been published by UK partners. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Investigation of chla and phytoplankton functional types in the NE Atlantic |
| Organisation | University of Lisbon |
| Country | Portugal |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | PML has used OC CCI and EOCIS data to compare with in situ data on chla and phytoplankton functional types in the NE Atlantic. Results have been published in a poster at ESA ESSI mtg NOv 23 |
| Collaborator Contribution | Gathering and processing of in situ data on chla and phytoplankton functional types |
| Impact | Brotas, V., Ferreira, A., Veloso, V., Tracana, A., Poll, V., Guerreiro, C., Tarran, G., Woodward, E., Ribeiro, L., Netting, J., Clewley, D., Groom, S., 2023. Assessing phytoplankton community composition in the Atlantic Ocean from in situ and satellite observations. Frontiers in Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1229692 |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Title | Convolutional Autoencoder Tools |
| Description | This product is a set of easy to use software programs that enable researchers to use deep learning to perform image-to-image conversion. The guiding use case is to train, evaluate and utilise models to perform downscaling from lower to higher spatial resolution EO imagery, as part of the EOCIS project generating high resolution climate data for the UK (CHUK). |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | This software is tailored for use with EO multi-channel input imagery to estimate single channel output images. The integrated model evaluation component is designed to generate appropriate metrics for EO and an HTML "quicklook" report. |
| URL | https://github.com/surftemp/cae_tools |
| Title | EOCIS CHUK API |
| Description | This product comprises software tools that implements an API and command line tools for assisting in the creation and manipulation of datasets associated with the EOCIS Climate High Resolution - UK (CHUK) project. |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | These software tools aim to make it easier to both produce and consume EOCIS CHUK datasets. They are designed to help producers adhere to the EOCIS / CHUK metadata standards, help with the conversion of datasets between different file formats, and help consumers work with published CHUK datasets. |
| URL | https://github.com/eocis-chuk/chuk-api |
| Title | EOCIS Data Portal |
| Description | The EOCIS Data Portal is an integrated suite of web applications designed for the exploration and distribution of EO-dervied climate datasets, including high resolution climate data. The main components are: (1) a map-based tool for exploring and viewing the datasets (2) a dashboard system for integrating web-based applications that present climate relevant information from the datasets (3) a tool for extracting relevant subsets of the datasets |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | Compared to other offerings, this product aims to offer a simple and easy to use interface to the datasets, and so aims to maximise adoption from a diverse base of potential users of the datasets. |
| URL | https://eocis.org/portal |
| Description | Attendance to COP28 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Attended COP28 as an Early-Career Researcher and engaged with a variety of audiences. I was also interviewed by a local Spanish newspaper. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.lasnoticiasdecuenca.es/entrevistas/cambio-climatico-deberia-estar-frente-todas-prioridad... |
| Description | EO Applications Workshop delivered in Bahrain |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | We delivered a workshop jointly with the Bahrain National Space Science Agency on the use of Earth Observation data to a group of stakeholders from different ministries and industry. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Impact of climatic drought of 2022 on vegetation biophysical traits across the United Kingdom |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Explicitly demonstrated the applications of EOCIS CHUK-Vegetation data from Sentinel 2. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation on Climate Change at Cafe Scientifique, Henley. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation was an overview of climate change, including the current status using EOCIS datasets. A lively question and answer session followed, and there has been a follow-up invitation to present in Henley Green Week in 2024. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Protecting Our Planet Day 2023 - 'Protecting Our Ice' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | An audience of over 100,000 joined POP22 last November for a programme of live link-ups with inspirational experts working to tackle climate change, interactive primary school sessions, and career journeys from studying STEM to protecting our planet. For POP23, we added even more enlightening sessions. Across the day, we featured how space agencies, satellites, scientists and solutions help mitigate climate change and aid the international humanitarian community in protecting our planet. Audiences discovered how satellites watch over our planet, helping to monitor, understand, model, predict and tackle climate change for the planet's precious ecosystems. Young people were inspired by panellists with backstories in studying STEM subjects to careers working to protect the planet, both in the space industry and roles influenced by satellite data. Protecting Our Ice (Hosted by Professor Andy Shepherd, Northumbria) The ice ecosystem is one of the planet's most precious environments. We heard how space missions provide scientists with vital data to help understand the changes in the land and floating ice on our planet. We also discovered how satellites watch over our planet continuously, helping to monitor, understand, model, predict and act on climate change and its related challenges. During this session, we linked to leading scientific ecosystem experts here in the UK, onboard the RRS Sir David Attenborough on its way to Antarctica, plus incredible link-ups from research pioneers with the British Antarctic Survey already out on location in Antarctica. Hosted by the leading expert on the ice ecosystem - who works with technical experts in space agencies, scientific collaborators in glaciology, meteorology, oceanography, ice sheet modelling, and government agencies - we: - Learnt about this ecosystem's climate change challenges - Learnt about the actions needed, and those already taking place - Were inspired by the solutions that are possible - Were hopeful of what can be achieved in the future |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.stem.org.uk/enrichment/protecting-our-planet-day/pop-sessions/protecting-our-ice-pop23 |
| Description | STEM for BRITAIN finalist |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | I was one of the Physics finalists for the STEM for BRITAIN scientific poster competition and presented it at Parliament. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://stemforbritain.org.uk/stem-for-britain-finalists-2024/#physics |
| Description | Satellites Engagement Day, Newcastle |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Life Science Centre in Newcastle celebrated World Space Week, and put the spotlight on satellites on 7th October, 2023. CPOM members joined scientists from the universities of Newcastle and Durham and some of the team from space companies Skyrora and Ambasat, to share their knowledge about the UK's capabilities in Earth Observation, using satellites to monitor the polar regions, and answer questions about their large CryoSat-2 model. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | St Piran's Flooding Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | We delivered a hands-on workshop on flooding to approx 60 Year 6 pupils. The school and parents reported a very enthusiastic response from the children. The team were invited to deliver another workshop next year. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2023 |