Why I am a Copernicus believer

Rafa Cereceda
Nov 5 · 3 min read

Then I saw her face…

The face of Earth. I’ve always been a big maps fan. All kind of maps. I find the Earth beautiful. Geology, geography, climate, water...

So when I discovered that using platforms like Sentinel Hub I could go anywhere on the Planet on a given day to see how it changed, in high resolution, I got really enthusiastic.

I think one of the first stories we did with it at euronews was Paris under the snow.

But I also realised it was a fantastic tool to tell the climate crisis story (thanks for quoting me, Sentinel Hub!)

From space (while enjoying the warmth -or the cool during heatwaves- oxygen and gravity, quiet on my desk at the newsroom) we’ve seen the effects of flooding, hurricanes, wildfires, with the help and inspiration from experts like SpaceTec Partners (managing the Copernicus Emergency Service at the time), Pierre Markuse, Annamaria Luongo, Iban Ameztoy and a long list…

Many floods. Monster, historic wildfires. And last summer, we monitored the dramatic effects of climate change in the North Pole and Arctic Amplification, from Greenland to Siberia. And it’s not over yet.

Do you remember the sled dogs walking on water that made headlines around the world? We went to see the area from space. In different years. Quite speaking.

Inglefield Gulf in June 2019
The area one year earlier.

Then, it’s a bit more difficult to approach, but I also started learning how to use the Copernicus data, as it is not only about beautiful photos of the Earth.

Siberian wildfires emissions last summer

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service provides real-time air quality forecasts. And allows experts to create illustrations like this one.

Right before going on holidays this year, I was looking for yet new pictures to illustrate the Siberian wildfires. While digging on the aerosol emissions forecast I found a monster cloud in Latin America. Aerosol, carbon monoxide, fire spots… Both on Copernicus and NASA’s MODIS satellites.

I contacted the Copernicus ECMWF people to be sure and Mark Parrington confirmed the exceptional concentrations of smoke in the area. At the time, only the Amazonas state local press had treated the emergency.

Their teams -small but dedicated, I’ve been told- are always willing to help, the community always ready to share information, and best practices.

I haven’t yet dared digging much into the massive Climate Data Store, but its possibilities look very promising. The Climate Change service monthly updates are published earlier than the NASA ones, shhht, keep the secret.

And now euronews has Climate Now, the most rigorous and interesting Climate Change TV show around in partnership whit them.

So yes. I am a Copernicus believer.

You can read this if you wonder What on Earth — monitoring- is Copernicus.

Rafa Cereceda

Written by

Journalist. Editor, digital @euronews. Tweets mostly in Spanish, some EN, FR. My own views. RT not... etcetera. The cover photo is #ShowYourStripes Greenland

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