From increased water scarcity to more frequent wildfires to more extreme heat in many cities, the impacts of climate change are already rippling out across the planet. And as extreme weather events become more frequent, mitigating their effects requires understanding them more deeply.
This is exactly what Destination Earth enables people to do. A collaborative European Commission initiative implemented by EUMETSAT, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, and the European Space Agency, Destination Earth is a digital model of the entire Earth system that draws on enormous amounts of data, making it possible to see the multitude of complex ways natural and human activity will likely affect the planet in the future.
“We’re looking at replicating what's actually happening across the globe, including in relation to the atmosphere, land, ocean, people, cities, and agriculture. Destination Earth will allow us to ask ‘what if?’ questions in a more meaningful and more complete way,” said Lothar Wolf, EUMETSAT’s Head of Digital Solutions and Programme Manager for Destination Earth.
“For example, we had a major flood in the Ahr Valley in Germany during the summer of 2021. More than a hundred people died and thousands lost their homes,” he continued.
“So now they're rebuilding this valley. And they have a real need to understand how to best plan this so that the buildings are more resilient in the future. Destination Earth is a powerful tool they could use.”
Destination Earth consists of three main components: the initiative’s first two digital twins, models focusing on climate adaptation and extreme weather as well as the Digital Twin Engine, which is the software and data services for the digital twins; the platform, through which people can access tools, applications, and services; and the Data Lake, a central location where all the data is stored.
EUMETSAT’s main role has been to develop the Data Lake, which enables people using the platform to access data from a wide variety of sources that have been translated to enable users to understand the data better.
Wolf likens this translation to the experience a person might have searching for the Kesh Temple Hymn, an ancient Sumerian poem, in an enormous library. The librarian could first help to sharpen the person’s question, so that it better targets what the person is really searching for. Next, instead of sending the person to another building to find the original stone tablets that the person isn’t able to read, the librarian could instead offer a slide deck with the content on the tablets translated into a language the person does understand.
Today’s launch of Destination Earth is the beginning of a journey that by 2026 will consist of more digital twins and be more interactive. By 2030, the goal is to offer users a complete digital replica of the Earth with very high-resolution modelling that can be accessed on demand.
“I think Destination Earth has the potential to be a game-changing technology. I’m very proud of my team for building the foundation of something so impactful,” said Wolf.
Author:
Sarah Puschmann
