Keeping tabs on the atmosphere

For Lieven Bydekerke, a trip to Kenya first drove home the importance of satellite imagery.

In the late nineties, Bydekerke moved from rural Belgium to Nairobi to work for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as an agricultural engineer mapping vulnerable coastal ecosystems in Eastern Africa.

As soon as he exited the plane, he was shocked by the pollution.

“Compared to the clean air in the rural area of Belgium I was living in before, the air in Nairobi was heavy with black smoke from vehicles and burning waste,” said Bydekerke.

“It was one thing to read about this kind of issue and know that it's being discussed at a policy level. For me, connecting what I saw in the satellite images to what I experienced in person helped me to realise how useful satellites are for monitoring air quality,” he continued.

Now, as EUMETSAT gears up for the launch of the second Meteosat Third Generation satellite in late 2025, Bydekerke has moved on from using satellite images himself to helping ensure that they reach others. As Copernicus Programme Manager, he is preparing to facilitate the transition of Copernicus Sentinel-4, an atmospheric monitoring instrument that will be on board the Meteosat Third Generation – Sounder 1 (MTG-S1) satellite, from the European Space Agency, who is developing the instrument, to the Copernicus Programme, who will take it over once it is operational.

“My role involves the management of EUMETSAT’s activities in the Copernicus Programme and sitting together with various teams to understand any problems and look for solutions,” he said.

“If any issues do arise with Sentinel-4, I need to communicate with the European Commission about them and determine the mitigation actions that we have to take.”

A new mission for geostationary orbit, Copernicus Sentinel-4 will collect observations about concentrations of atmospheric gases such as ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulphur dioxide that will complement similar observations from other instruments in low Earth orbit. Bydekerke is also helping to prepare the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service to take up these new data for use in applications such as air pollution forecasts, so that ultimately, people can access and benefit from them.

For him, Copernicus Sentinel-4 is so important because of the many ways the composition of the atmosphere affects human health.

“Urban pollution, methane leaks, and toxic sulphur dioxide emitted by erupting volcanoes – so many components of the atmosphere somehow have an impact on our lives. It will be quite amazing to be able to operationally monitor them,” he said.

Author:

Sarah Puschmann