CGI: Understanding Climate Change Better with Big Data
Darmstadt/Bochum, Germany / April 6, 2022 – The European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) has hired IT services provider CGI and its partners to make the complex data streams available generated by EUMETSAT’s Earth observation programs with the aid of state-of-the-art Big Data and cloud technologies. The results will enable better weather analyses, more precise predictions of future climate change, and more effective responses to natural catastrophes.
Each and every day, high-resolution sensors installed in EUMETSAT’s weather satellites like those of Meteosat and Metop, and in satellites like those of Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth observation program, capture an immense and steadily expanding volume of data on and images of the planet’s atmosphere, climate, seas and land areas. The EU has therefore requested the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) to make it easier for a large group of end users to access and mine these data streams. Going forward, national weather services, scientific institutions, European companies, and both national and international government bodies will be able to take advantage of them.
The information gained from crunching these enormous quantities of raw data will support efforts to understand climate change better and more accurately monitor floods, forest fires or extreme weather events to gain a better understanding of how they impact logistics, urban development, energy supplies, agriculture, and water management, to cite just a few examples, and derive appropriate recommendations for action. Recently, for instance, data from these sources were used to more accurately assess conflagrations in Greece, smoke plumes from forest fires in Russia, and the severe flooding in Western Europe last summer and provide faster aid as a result.
Analyses and visualization to facilitate use
EUMETSAT is now working closely with CGI and its partners to upgrade its portfolio of data access services. CGI is leveraging Big Data and cloud technologies to deliver both historical and current satellite data and the corresponding metadata. Raw data and higher-level information derived from them can be accessed via a Web portal or an API. Big Data technology is also being applied to support the EUMETView NG (Next Gen) project for making satellite data easier to understand by visualizing them in the form of maps, videos, and time sequences. For example, trends in the polar ice sheets are dynamically depicted.
According to Dr. Alen Berta, Executive Consultant on Space und Head of the Advanced Analytics Knowledge Hub of CGI’s AI & Smart Data Practice in Germany, “the data generated by EUMETSAT’s Earth observation satellites are being processed and visualized to make them accessible and understandable to a large group of users in the public domain. In this way, CGI is making an important contribution to understanding global climate change and mitigating the associated damage.”
CGI has been delivering complex, mission-critical space solutions for clients across Europe, Asia and North America supporting satellite navigation, communications and operations, to space enabled applications for over 40 years.
About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 82,000 consultants and professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. CGI Fiscal 2021 reported revenue is C$12.13 billion and CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Learn more at cgi.com.
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