The Untapped Potential of Space-Based Earth Observation for Environmental Research
- Science Canada
- May 30
- 4 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Can space-based Earth Observation reach new heights?
From precision agriculture and environmental science to mining, satellite-based Earth Observation (EO) has revolutionized myriad industries and their applications.
That success has led to a rapid boom in satellites, launchers, and services. Over the past decade, 1,864 EO satellites were launched, with Novaspace anticipating that 5,401 EO satellites will be launched between 2024 and 2033. That's a 190% increase from the previous decade.
Although satellite data is plentiful, it often requires deep expertise to process and analyze, which has constrained the overall market and limited application.
That begs the question: What valuable insights are we losing out on and why?
A 2024 paper led by Jamie Shutler at the University of Exeter examines that untapped potential. The researchers explore the impact of satellite data collection and analysis on oceanic science, the need for increased global collaboration, and the benefits of integrating EO data into atmospheric research.
“One reason [space-based EO is underutilized] is that satellite observations are rarely used exclusively, but often in conjunction with other types of observations, thereby complementing and expanding their usability yet losing their visibility.”
The Research: Exploring Space-based Earth Observation for Environmental Study
The Power of Satellite Data
Satellites can cover huge, remote ocean areas, providing data that water-level ('in-situ') monitoring methods simply aren't capable of providing. By relying on EO satellites instead of data from boats and buoys — which are constrained by geography and logistics — researchers can accurately track and understand the dynamics of oceanic carbon dioxide absorption.
EO satellites, thanks to their broad coverage, can be crucial for accurately quantifying and understanding unique ocean dynamics like chemistry due to increased CO₂ levels:
Carbon Sink Monitoring: The ocean is one of the world’s largest carbon sinks and plays an important role in mitigating extreme climate shifts by absorbing more than a quarter of carbon dioxide emissions every year.
Understanding Ocean Acidification: Ocean acidification threatens marine biodiversity, ecosystems, and even the global carbon cycle.
By combining satellite data with in-situ measurements and model analyses, the reliability and accuracy of results are improved even more.
“There is clear potential to begin using these observation-based approaches for directly guiding ocean management and conservation decisions, in particular in regions where in-situ data collection is more difficult... interest in them is growing within the environmental policy communities.”
Research Recommendations: A Call for International Collaboration
The researchers argue that global integration is key to fully harnessing EO's capabilities.
Shutler and team advocate for the creation of an international advisory group to support the inclusion of space-based EO into global carbon assessments. They argue that fostering cooperation between satellite data providers and environmental policymakers would lead to more policy-centric EO research, and improve the visibility of satellite data use within environmental governance.
By integrating EO data and standardizing analysis in this way, the researchers expect to see an improvement in climate-related policies and ocean conservation.
Global Perspectives on Ocean Monitoring
Why Space-Based EO Matters
Global CO₂ emissions reached approximately 37.15 billion metric tons in 2022, rising by more than 60% since 1990. This makes carbon sinks all the more critical for stabilizing atmospheric CO₂ levels. (Regardless of where one falls on the carbon-debate spectrum, those are undoubtedly immense numbers.)
Meanwhile, ocean acidification — which is caused by the absorption of CO₂ and negatively impacts ecosystems — has increased by ~30% since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The European Space Agency's Copernicus mission found that the average global surface ocean pH decreased from 8.11 to 8.05, indicating a 15% increase in acidity between 1985 and 2023.
Shifting climate patterns can impact the efficiency of carbon sinks. As an immense carbon sink, the ocean absorbs roughly 31% of CO₂ annually, which reduces the impact that excess carbon emissions can have on the environment. (For context, forests and vegetation absorb roughly 30%.)
Carbon absorption largely occurs through the biological carbon pump process. CO₂ is absorbed into the ocean surface through photosynthesis by marine plants and phytoplankton and is then transformed into organic matter.
Oceans are home to as much as 80% of all life on Earth. By improving our understanding of oceanic dynamics via satellites and other integrated technologies, we can better understand Earth's ecosystems and minimize the impact of atmospheric CO₂.
Why EO Satellites Matter
Monitoring oceans poses huge challenges for researchers due size, complexity, and dynamic systems. Traditional monitoring methods use ships and buoys, are limited in terms of coverage and frequency. They also tend to be expensive and don’t always provide timely data.
Using EO satellites, researchers can monitor vast areas of remote oceans that are inaccessible with traditional monitoring methods. Those satellites can be equipped to measure everything from sea surface temperature and salinity to colour, providing rich data for environmental analysis.
Here's a quick overview of major sensor types and what they measure:
Optical sensors can detect changes in ocean color, which helps track algal blooms and sediment concentrations near coastlines.
Hyperspectral sensors can identify specific materials or chemical compositions in the ocean by capturing data across hundreds of spectral bands, useful for detecting oil spills or phytoplankton types.
Radar sensors like Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) can measure sea surface roughness and wave patterns regardless of weather or daylight. This makes them ideal for monitoring ocean currents and ship movements.
Because this satellite data can be collected repeatedly and consistently over long periods of time, researchers are able to conduct time-series analysis to track trends and changes in oceanic carbon absorption.
With so many sensor types and processes available, EO satellite data can be applied across marine biology, oceanography, and atmospheric science, providing a holistic view of how the ocean interacts with other Earth systems.
Future in Focus: Modeling & Policy
Having more accessible, interpretable satellite EO data would clearly be a boon for scientists and policymakers alike — allowing them to access faster, more nuanced climate insights across the globe.
Satellite imagery has already been instrumental across areas like deforestation tracking, identifying urban heat islands, and guiding conservation policy. As machine learning and AI tools advance and open-data platforms expand, environmental analysis could very likely become not only deeper but also more democratized.
The end game of all that power? Increased accessibility and capability that allows for accurate climate models, improved global coordination, and the creation of smarter, science-backed environmental policy.
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