Taking place as part of the COP26 Geneva Cryosphere Hub on 3 November, the focus of this session was on the potential offered by Earth Observation (EO) technology to observe, monitor, and assess the Earth’s Cryosphere.
The event kicked off with GEO Mountains Scientific Project Officer Dr. James Thornton presenting the work GEO Mountains is undertaking to enhance the discoverability and accessibility of existing mountain data and information – both in situ and remotely sensed – across global mountain regions. He also introduced the concept of Essential Mountain Climate Variables (EMCVs) to support the monitoring and understanding of key climate change-related mountain processes.
Dr. Yaniss Guigoz (University of Geneva, UNEP/GRID Geneva) then presented the World Environment Situation Room Mountain (WESR-mountain), which aims to provide discoverability and accessibility to existing mountain specific geospatial layers, information, and knowledge in order to better address sustainable mountain development issues.
This was followed by Dr. Gregory Giuliani (University of Geneva, UNEP/GRID Geneva), who gave an overview of the work of Swiss Data Cube (SDC). The objective of SDC is to support the Swiss government in environmental monitoring and reporting, enable Swiss scientific institutions to facilitate new insights and research using the SDC, and improve knowledge of the Swiss environment using EO data.
Charlotte Poussin (University of Geneva, UNEP/GRID Geneva) then demonstrated how the SDC can help monitor cryosphere change; two case studies in Switzerland and Italy illustrated the possibilities of mapping one of the Essential Climate Variables (snow cover) from space.
The event was livestreamed, and is now available to watch in full below.
Watch Now: Earth Observations for Monitoring Climate Change Impacts in Mountain Regions
