Featured image showing Calum with the drone was taken by Joseph J. Everest
SENSE Earth Observation CDT is training the next generation of experts in Earth Observation and advanced data techniques! Their 70 PhD students are collaborating closely with the space and environmental science industry, taking part in 3-month funded industry placements.
The Data Lab has been involved with SENSE since its launch, working as an official Industrial Partner and engaging with their CASE Partners, including collaborations with GSI and Trade in Space.
Following on from enlightening conversations around space data during DataFest22, we’ve been keeping a close eye on where Scotland’s future satellite tech leaders are focusing their efforts. In this blog, we’ve teamed up with 4 of SENSE’s PhD Researchers to highlight how their work is supporting climate change response and conservation.
In this article
- Who are SENSE?
- Penny Clarke – The ultimate game of Where’s Whaley
- Calum Hoad – Protecting the Arctic Tundra with drones
- Ross Slater – Predicting sea level rises from the skies
- Rebecca Wilks – AI for elephant conservation
- SatSchool – Outreach programme for lower secondary school pupils
Who are SENSE?
SENSE – Centre for Satellite Data in Environmental Science is a joint initiative funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and the UK Space Agency, designed to provide PhD level training in the use of satellite data for environmental science.
The program is designed for students with a background in physical sciences, engineering, or environmental science, and provides interdisciplinary training in areas such as remote sensing, earth observation, and data analytics.
The initiative combines cutting-edge research with hands-on experience to produce the next generation of experts in the use of satellite data for environmental science. Through the program, students will gain a deep understanding of the role of satellite data in environmental science and its applications, from monitoring global environmental changes to supporting disaster response efforts.
Penny Clarke – The ultimate game of Where’s Whaley
Penny is a PhD Researcher, studying whale and dolphin mass strandings and ocean health from space. Their internationally collaborative project with the University of Massey, CEAZA, JNCC and Oceanswell, is working to develop satellite imagery as a tool for long-term stranding monitoring programmes in remote areas.
When whales and dolphins strand (wash ashore ill or in an environment unsuitable for their natural survival), they act as early warning systems, offering insights into ocean health. Strandings are on the rise globally, reflecting increasing pressures on our oceans from human uses and climate change.
Current monitoring efforts via stranding networks (networks of trained people) are biased towards populated coastlines. We need to upscale monitoring in remote regions to greater understand the impacts of humans and climate change on cetacean and ocean health and for public health concerns.
Satellites orbiting the Earth offer a non-disruptive new tool, providing highly detailed images, which can help us spot mass strandings of whales and dolphins remotely. Imagine the ultimate game of Where’s Wally, only it’s ‘Where’s Whaley’, and you are spying on whales all the way from space.
Ultimately, this project aims to develop a new tool to monitor strandings, creating accessible online training and tools to strengthen local stranding networks. It will also allow networks worldwide to become self-sustaining, and achieve their long-term monitoring and conservation goals. Penny’s PhD work is partnered with SENSE Earth Observation CDT, the British Antarctic Survey and the University of Edinburgh.
Connect with Penny on LinkedIn
Read more about Penny’s project on Frontiers in Marine Science
Listen to Penny’s podcast: If Oceans Could Speak
Calum Hoad – Protecting the Arctic Tundra with drones
Calum spent the summer of 2022 carrying a heavy drone, equipped with 9 cameras, back and forth to an area of tundra at the top of a hill in the Canadian Yukon. The Arctic tundra is a beautiful and important environment which can be found all the way around the top of the planet. It’s also an environment which is warming up to 4 times as fast as the global average.
A rapidly changing climate will affect tundra soils, plants and animals, as well as the people who live there. In turn, changes in the surface colour of the tundra and releases of carbon from warming soils may accelerate climate change on a global scale. Therefore, it’s important we understand how the tundra is changing.
Scientists have been using satellite images taken over the last 40 years to measure changes in the tundra, but the images are difficult to interpret. A common finding is that Arctic tundra is getting ‘greener’, however, a greener pixel could indicate either more vegetation or less snow.
Flying the drone repeatedly throughout the summer, Calum captured images which provide a clear measure of changes in the tundra landscape over a single season. By comparing clear drone images with fuzzy satellite images, he aims to understand more precisely what changes the satellites are observing throughout the Arctic tundra. The ultimate goal is to protect this incredibly important environment, by predicting how it will continue to change in the future and how this may affect global climate change.
Connect with Calum on LinkedIn
Read Calum’s guest blog for The Data Lab
Visit Calum’s blog
Ross Slater – Predicting sea level rises from the skies
Ross is studying the Antarctic ice sheet using satellite data; the satellites he uses produce images using microwaves instead of light allowing us to see through clouds and at night, both of which are very important in the polar regions. By collecting images across Antarctica every 6 and 12 days, he’s been able to see changing features in the ice, such as cracks. He then uses an algorithm which takes two images to see where these cracks have moved over time and, from this, estimates how fast the ice is flowing.
Antarctica’s ice sheet moves from the middle of the continent down to the coast and then flows out into the sea, beginning to float and forming what’s called an ice shelf. Sections of this then break off, creating icebergs. Ross’s key focus is whether the speed of the ice is changing because, if the flow of the ice increases, that means more ice into the ocean. And, as soon as the ice enters the ocean, that’s when it makes a contribution to sea level rise.
The ice is accelerating in Antarctica, and Ross and his fellow researchers know this because of the wealth of data collected from satellites since the 1990s. Using satellite data has allowed them to study changes which happen on the order of days, across the whole continent, something that can’t be done by fieldwork alone.
The goal for Ross’s work? To better understand why the ice is changing. Because, if you can understand the changes in speed, it means that when you model the ice for future projections, your sea level rise predictions will be more likely to be correct.
Connect with Ross on LinkedIn
Follow Ross’s journey on Twitter
Rebecca Wilks – AI for elephant conservation
Rebecca is working on a project to develop statistical methods that will facilitate live satellite monitoring of African elephants. While AI can detect elephants in images, there are several steps required to obtain sample counts from AI and scale them up reliably for conservation efforts.
Aerial surveys to monitor elephant populations across protected and non-protected areas in Africa have been highly time and effort-intensive. Elephants roam vast distances, making it challenging to determine their exact population size. By using satellites that can cover much larger areas with ease, the hope is to integrate satellite monitoring into current conservation efforts.
Rebecca is passionate about the “AI for Conservation” research area, which has the potential to contribute to protecting many endangered species. There are numerous fascinating applications where AI has made a difference, including unique identification of individuals and wildlife censuses, animal recognition in camera trap data, acoustic detection of animals, and live poaching warning systems.
Connect with Rebecca on LinkedIn
Satschool – An outreach programme for lower secondary school pupils
SatSchool is an Earth observation outreach program provided by SENSE PhD students, designed for schools in Scotland. It is aimed at engaging students and teachers in the use of satellite data and technology to better understand and learn about the Earth.
The program provides training and resources for schools to explore satellite images and data and use them for environmental monitoring and analysis. The objective of the program is to foster scientific literacy and encourage students to consider careers in Earth and environmental sciences.
The SatSchool program includes hands-on activities, workshops, and online resources that are aligned with the Scottish curriculum and are suitable for students of all ages. Through the program, students and teachers can explore a variety of topics, including land use and land cover, atmospheric phenomena, and natural disasters. It is designed to be both engaging and educational and provides students with an opportunity to apply scientific concepts and principles to real-world data.
Are you a PhD student looking to gain industry experience to enhance your PhD or Early Career Research? Find out more about our PhD Placements and early-stage research funding.
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