HAMK joins European Space Agency–funded research: Satellite data reveals the impacts of greenhouse gases
The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded funding to an international research project developing a satellite-based tool to monitor greenhouse gases. Häme University of Applied Sciences (HAMK) is responsible for creating the project’s digital interface, which enables near real-time visualisation of environmental changes in the Arctic and the Amazon.
Within the project, led by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), HAMK will implement a digital interface that allows near real-time greenhouse-gas monitoring using satellite data. The observations will focus on both the Arctic region and Brazil’s Amazon basin.
The interface functions as an observatory, visualising atmospheric greenhouse-gas concentrations and other key carbon-cycle variables by combining satellite data with ground-based measurements.
“Climate change can significantly alter the carbon cycle in both the Arctic and the Amazon. These areas are also difficult to cover with extensive ground measurements, so the most comprehensive observation data come from satellites. It is therefore crucial to integrate data from different satellites to gain an up-to-date overall picture of the regions’ status,” explains project lead researcher Dr Hannakaisa Lindqvist, Research Professor at the FMI.
Alongside HAMK, the CARDS project (Carbon Dashboard Linking Satellite and In-Situ Data for Key Regions) includes King’s College London (KCL) and the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB) as partners.
“Thanks to ESA funding, climate and remote-sensing research gains a new dimension through cooperation with the Finnish Meteorological Institute and our high-level international partners,” says HAMK Leading Research Scientist and project lead Dr Iivari Kunttu.
Continuation of earlier HAMK–FMI collaboration
At HAMK, the work is carried out in the Digital solutions in bioeconomy research group within the HAMK Tech Research Unit. Since 2019, the group has collaborated with the FMI, for example in developing the Field Observatory, which visualises agriculture’s climate impacts.
“The FMI and HAMK have already done pioneering work together with the Field Observatory, and this project extends that strong teamwork to diverse satellite data and broader geographical areas,” Lindqvist adds.
The new observatory service will be a public, open-access online platform where anyone can track greenhouse gases in different regions.
“We build on and further develop solutions we have previously implemented. The new service will also allow comparisons and trend analyses across large datasets,” says Olli Niemitalo, the service’s lead developer and data analyst.
CARDS project
The Carbon Dashboard Linking Satellite and In-Situ Data for Key Regions (CARDS) project is creating a digital observatory that enables near real-time monitoring of greenhouse gases in both the Arctic and Amazon regions.
- Duration: 1 August 2025 – 31 July 2027
- Funding: 600 000 € (HAMK share: 185 000 €)
- Funder: European Space Agency (ESA)
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