Challenge #1: EUMETSAT Challenge

Explore and develop innovative use cases leveraging the EUMETSAT Prototype Drought and Vegetation Data Cube to address local environmental issues. Specifically, investigate its application in enhancing the resilience of urban environments through concepts like the Sponge City.

EUMETSAT has introduced its cutting-edge Prototype of a Drought and Vegetation Data Cube (D&V Cube), a powerful collection of data for monitoring and analyzing drought and vegetation dynamics. EUMETSAT is keen to evaluate its real-world utility, especially in the context of pressing challenges posed by global warming. This challenge invites participants to dive deep into the data, applying it to meaningful local scenarios, with a focus on Earth Observation data.

Immerse yourself in the D&V Cube data to gain a thorough understanding of its contents and capabilities. Your task is to explore how this data can be integrated with the Sponge City concept—a key strategy in global climate mitigation. Specifically, investigate how settlement cracks, often associated with poor water absorption and urban planning, can be correlated with the data provided. Your goal is to connect these data resources to local challenges, demonstrating their potential impact on urban resilience.

The D&V Cube encompasses satellite-derived data on Land Surface Temperature, Soil Moisture, Solar Radiation, and related variables. These datasets are instrumental in monitoring vegetation patterns, both on a daily basis and over longer periods, as well as in assessing drought conditions. These parameters, along with others, are available from EUMETSAT's Satellite Application Facilities (SAFs) and are organized in a standardized format, covering extensive parts of Europe on a regular latitude-longitude grid (WGS84).

• Comparative Analysis: Examine areas with successful Sponge City implementations and contrast them with regions where this concept has not yet been applied.
• Urban Stress Indicators: Use web searches and data analysis to identify regions where settlement cracks are prevalent, such as Offenbach, and explore potential correlations with the D&V Cube data.
• Scenario Development: Propose new use cases for the D&V Cube data in urban planning, specifically focusing on improving water absorption and reducing urban heat island effects.

This challenge is an opportunity to showcase the versatility of satellite data in tackling real-world environmental issues and to contribute to the ongoing efforts in climate adaptation and urban resilience.

EUMETSAT will provide mentoring for this challenge before and after the hackathon. In addition to that, EUMETSAT provides access to brand new Jupyter Notebooks for documentation.

User guide on the D&V Cube: LINK

Cube notebooks (DV Sunshine Duration, DV Leaf Area Index, DV Soil Wetness Index, Drought and Vegetation Data Cube): LINK

Dr. Christine Träger-Chatterjee
Christine.Traeger@eumetsat.int