Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CLIMASAT (Remote-Sensing Satellite Data and the Making of Global Climate in Europe, 1980s-2000s.)
Reporting period: 2022-07-01 to 2024-12-31
Answers to how to manage the urgent climate crisis depend on perceptions of global climate. Knowing how they came to be is necessary to open up new possibilities about ways to face it. CLIMASAT aims at establishing a truly comprehensive narrative that integrates various spheres of knowledge to understand how global climate discourses, policies and practices came into being in the approximate 1980s-2000s Europe.
To do so, CLIMASAT substantially places the production, circulation and use of data generated with Earth-orbiting satellites at the centre of historical analysis. Indeed, since the 1980s, much of our scientific, practical and political knowledge about global climate has been increasingly compiled with satellite data, in a process of constitutive co-production. Then processes of data production, circulation and use may have played a role in knowledge-making. CLIMASAT identifies 5 interrelated spheres of knowledge involved in satellite data production, circulation and use: science and technology, economy, regulation, communication, and diplomacy. It sets out the hypothesis that it was through their mutual intersections, as they materialised in processes of data production, circulation and use, that certain perceptions and actions about global climate were collectively negotiated, shared, maintained and used. It focuses the empirical analysis on 3 European satellite programs (Meteosat, Topex/Poseidon, ERS) that provided data on extreme weather events, sea level, and ozone. It demands an interdisciplinary methodology grounded on material and transnational history.
In times of growing public concern regarding our actions on the climate crisis, CLIMASAT delivers unparalleled information and critical analysis about how satellite data-informed perceptions of global climate were made, which is relevant not only for researchers in academia but also for policy-makers and engaged citizens.
To do so, CLIMASAT substantially places the production, circulation and use of data generated with Earth-orbiting satellites at the centre of historical analysis. Indeed, since the 1980s, much of our scientific, practical and political knowledge about global climate has been increasingly compiled with satellite data, in a process of constitutive co-production. Then processes of data production, circulation and use may have played a role in knowledge-making. CLIMASAT identifies 5 interrelated spheres of knowledge involved in satellite data production, circulation and use: science and technology, economy, regulation, communication, and diplomacy. It sets out the hypothesis that it was through their mutual intersections, as they materialised in processes of data production, circulation and use, that certain perceptions and actions about global climate were collectively negotiated, shared, maintained and used. It focuses the empirical analysis on 3 European satellite programs (Meteosat, Topex/Poseidon, ERS) that provided data on extreme weather events, sea level, and ozone. It demands an interdisciplinary methodology grounded on material and transnational history.
In times of growing public concern regarding our actions on the climate crisis, CLIMASAT delivers unparalleled information and critical analysis about how satellite data-informed perceptions of global climate were made, which is relevant not only for researchers in academia but also for policy-makers and engaged citizens.
Under the active coordination of the PI, the team members have held scientific meetings twice per month. The first one as part of the international cycle of seminars on "Satellites, data and the environment" that we have organized (online); the other one to discuss articles, books and publications relevant to the research project. Additionally, we have met at least every two months with the aim to brainstorm about research plans and critically discuss preliminary results, concepts and draft papers. We have also held one to one meetings with each team member whenever necessary to discuss individual research lines and avenues. Finally, we have organized meetings also devoted to practical, methodological and technical issues, such as a training session on digital tools that can assist historical research, such as Zotero and Obsidian, and one on feminist approaches to oral history. These sessions were opened to all members of the Institut d’història de la ciència, also to make the CLIMASAT project relevant at the host institution and expand our research goals, results and ways of doing. Additionally, as part of their training, the PhD candidates have carried out various courses to develop relevant research, writing and presentation skills, as well as to gain knowledge in the fields of history of science, history of technology and environmental history. Also, all the team members have devoted significant time to carry out archival research necessary to get empirical material for their historical analysis. Historical archives such as the national archives of France, Spain and Catalonia, archives of UNESCO, of the oceanographic library in the UK, the European Space Agency and the French Space Agency have been consulted.
In terms of scientific events, in October 2023, the CLIMASAT team members organized the First CLIMASAT workshop. It gathered researchers with different disciplinary backgrounds (history of science, history of technology, environmental history, political ecology, political geography, STS, philosophy of science, cultural anthropology) and specialising in various specific topics (data justice, data access, data diplomacy, data economy, sensors, organizations, labour, etc). All shared an interest in critically examining the processes involved in the production, circulation and use of scientific data, and their epistemic, political and social implications. It served to grasp the historical intersections between between science and technology, finances, regulation, communication, and diplomacy that took place in producing, circulating, and using satellite data. The Second CLIMASAT workshop was co-organized in March 2024 as a follow-up. It was co-organized with team members of another ERC project (ERC COG Neworldata, based in the University of Manchester), who also participated in the First CLIMASAT workshop. It was deliberately much more disciplinary-focused on the history of scientific data, with satellite data playing a central role. As a result of the workshop, PI of both projects started a stronger collaboration aimed to co-edit a joint book on the history of scientific data, tentatively entitled "Data Asymmetries".
Several other communications have been carried out, including at the 10th and 11th European Society for the History of Science, British Society for the History of Science, NASA symposia and many others (see section Dissemination Activities).
In terms of scientific events, in October 2023, the CLIMASAT team members organized the First CLIMASAT workshop. It gathered researchers with different disciplinary backgrounds (history of science, history of technology, environmental history, political ecology, political geography, STS, philosophy of science, cultural anthropology) and specialising in various specific topics (data justice, data access, data diplomacy, data economy, sensors, organizations, labour, etc). All shared an interest in critically examining the processes involved in the production, circulation and use of scientific data, and their epistemic, political and social implications. It served to grasp the historical intersections between between science and technology, finances, regulation, communication, and diplomacy that took place in producing, circulating, and using satellite data. The Second CLIMASAT workshop was co-organized in March 2024 as a follow-up. It was co-organized with team members of another ERC project (ERC COG Neworldata, based in the University of Manchester), who also participated in the First CLIMASAT workshop. It was deliberately much more disciplinary-focused on the history of scientific data, with satellite data playing a central role. As a result of the workshop, PI of both projects started a stronger collaboration aimed to co-edit a joint book on the history of scientific data, tentatively entitled "Data Asymmetries".
Several other communications have been carried out, including at the 10th and 11th European Society for the History of Science, British Society for the History of Science, NASA symposia and many others (see section Dissemination Activities).
Apart from crossing approaches from history of science, technology and environment with STS, political ecology, political geography, economic history and science diplomacy, we are engaged in a truly collaborative way of working in which, while respecting the individual work of each team member, we highly value sharing, discussion and debate together. This requires positive willingness of team members, strong yet empathetic leadership, and time to create working dynamics, simmer ideas and long team discussions. This is, in itself, a major advance, especially in a field like the history of science, where it is rare to be able to work in a team (often for lack of resources, sometimes for lack of tradition).
A good example of a material outcome of this teamwork effort is the book that we are preparing. It will be the first joint publication co-edited by the PI of CLIMASAT and a researcher of the University of Manchester. The book is now in preparation and scheduled for submission to the publisher by the end of 2025. Tentatively entitled “Data asymmetries”, the book advances the argument that we cannot (fully) understand the current uneven global political context (including regarding climate change and other environmental concerns) without understanding the role of scientific datasets, namely, how data are produced, shared, stored and maintained, and used, by whom, for what, and under what conditions. Therefore, the book represents a first approach to the history of the role of scientific data, with great emphasis on satellite data, in making environmental knowledge. All team members of the CLIMASAT project will contribute to the book.
On a conceptual level, we are proposing a conceptual framework to understand the history of environmental satellite data and their role in making scientific and political knowledge, based on ideas like “materiality”, “put into practice”, “data practices”, “power”, and many other. This conceptual framework is still in its stage of maturation and refination within the team members and will be further elaborated in the coming months.
A good example of a material outcome of this teamwork effort is the book that we are preparing. It will be the first joint publication co-edited by the PI of CLIMASAT and a researcher of the University of Manchester. The book is now in preparation and scheduled for submission to the publisher by the end of 2025. Tentatively entitled “Data asymmetries”, the book advances the argument that we cannot (fully) understand the current uneven global political context (including regarding climate change and other environmental concerns) without understanding the role of scientific datasets, namely, how data are produced, shared, stored and maintained, and used, by whom, for what, and under what conditions. Therefore, the book represents a first approach to the history of the role of scientific data, with great emphasis on satellite data, in making environmental knowledge. All team members of the CLIMASAT project will contribute to the book.
On a conceptual level, we are proposing a conceptual framework to understand the history of environmental satellite data and their role in making scientific and political knowledge, based on ideas like “materiality”, “put into practice”, “data practices”, “power”, and many other. This conceptual framework is still in its stage of maturation and refination within the team members and will be further elaborated in the coming months.