I - Tapping satellite data to quantify climate change in urban areas
The platform will address multi-hazard risk factors and streamline the process of preparing for, and responding to climate change-related events.
R. M. Cristina Musacchio, HARMONIA project manager
Climate change will have profound impacts on cities, including raising urban air temperatures and influencing air pollution. Combating these effects will require strong policy commitments, underpinned by accurate data. In the HARMONIA(opens in new window) project, researchers are developing integrated decision support tools for urban environments, tailored to the needs of European citizens and public stakeholders. The project has already achieved excellent developments concerning multi-hazard and seasonal forecast models and quantification of the effects of climate change, which are valuable resources for decision makers. “The combination of accurate information, spatial analysis and health insights enables end users to enhance resilience, mitigate risks and create sustainable and healthy urban environments,” says Julia Nerantzia Tzortzi, HARMONIA project coordinator and associate professor in the Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano(opens in new window) in Italy.
A holistic solution
HARMONIA will merge urban and climate data from the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), a series of integrated Earth Observation systems, with other local, regional and global data sets. Using this data, the HARMONIA team will develop applications that support adaptation and mitigation measures of the Paris Agreement for urban environments, in a holistic solution known as the Integrated Resilience Assessment Platform(opens in new window). “The platform will address multi-hazard risk factors and streamline the process of preparing for, and responding to climate change-related events,” explains R. M. Cristina Musacchio, HARMONIA project manager, also at the Politecnico di Milano. “Sustainable urban development and the health of humans and ecosystems are top priorities.” The HARMONIA team will develop innovative technologies such as terrestrial and satellite imaging for wide-area inspection, advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and new in situ sensors, to integrate their platform with GEOSS. The Integrated Resilience Assessment Platform will specifically focus on risks in urban environments, using AI models to generate up-to-date information on land cover, building footprints and population distribution, and picking up risk patterns such as the urban heat island effect and flooding. The system will provide decision support systems for urban resilience, help with urban planning and uncover links between air pollution, climate change and health risks. Machine learning will allow the platform to forecast risk factors related to chronic diseases, empowering policymakers.
Keywords
HARMONIA, EU missions, cities mission, adaptation mission, climate change, projects info pack, research, innovation, resilience, sustainable, urban, climate-neutral, smart mobility, clean energy