Guest blog: From Orbit to Earth - Satellites, a Tool for Climate Mitigation

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time, and as global temperatures rise, so does the urgency to take effective climate mitigation action. Satellite-based monitoring is playing an increasingly important role in understanding climate change and tackling its risks. The ability of satellites to detect greenhouse gas emissions, monitor deforestation and nature restoration in near real-time is transforming our capacity to address the environmental impacts and will support the increased need for action and accountability.

Satellites provide a unique vantage point, offering a comprehensive, global perspective that complements ground-based monitoring. With rapid advancements in sensor technology, satellite imagery is now capable of detecting emissions from specific sources, tracking land-use changes, and continuing to provide crucial data for climate models. These capabilities allow scientists, policymakers, and businesses to make informed decisions regarding the numerous impacts of climate change.

A key application of space technology for climate mitigation is the detection and monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions. Traditional methods of measuring emissions rely on ground-based sensors and self-reported data, which can be incomplete or inaccurate. Satellites provide a unique view on emissions from industrial assets, enabling an independent way to track emissions on a global scale.

Satellites equipped with hyperspectral and infrared sensors measure the concentration of greenhouse gas, using spectrometry to detect the unique wavelengths of light absorbed. Methane and Carbon Dioxide emissions have received particular advancements in the past 5 years, with constellations being launch such as GHGSat, Carbon Mapper and MethaneSat, which can identify industrial emissions coming off specific assets. There is currently a programme being run by Satellite Applications Catapult and the UK Space Agency to support UK based organisations in exploring this data.

Satellite-based GHG monitoring is evolving to be an important tool for climate governance. By offering independently verifiable data, these observations enhance transparency and accountability, helping governments enforce emission regulations and track progress toward climate goals. For corporations, satellite imagery can validate or challenge emissions claims, encouraging compliance with sustainability commitments and environmental regulations.

Deforestation is another major driver of climate change as forests and other ecosystems act as vital carbon sinks, removing CO2 from the atmosphere and reducing the impact of climate change. Satellite imagery provides an efficient and scalable way to monitor deforestation at-scale in near real-time, making it a powerful tool for nature restoration efforts, biodiversity conservation and sustainable land management. As satellites can provide evidence of both the degradation and restoration of ecosystems, they provide useful data for business leaders, policy makers and regulators alike.

Satellites can detect changes in forest cover, differentiating between natural changes in forest structure and human-driven deforestation. NASA’s Landsat programme and ESA’s Sentinel-2 satellites have been capturing high-resolution images for decades supporting the identification of human-driven deforestation and changes in vegetation cover, using optical sensors.

By measuring forest biomass changes over time, satellites provide insights into how effectively forests are absorbing CO2, making them crucial for assessing the impact of reforestation initiatives and nature-based solutions for climate mitigation. The NASA Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission uses high-resolution Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensors that measure forest structure and estimate the biomass and carbon sequestration potential of forests.

The ESA Biomass mission is due to launch in early 2025, which will provide additional capabilities to monitor forests and improve carbon stock and flux estimations. Providing additional and crucial data to deepen our understanding of the global carbon cycle. The Biomass satellite platform was assembled in the UK.

Satellites are collecting vast amount of data, with tens of millions of images being collected by Earth Observation satellites every day. Advancements in big data and artificial intelligence are rapidly being adopted by the industry. This is both to prioritise processing of images with time sensitivity activity such as wildfires, as well as through algorithms to automate the translation images to information to predict trends and even attribute activity to responsible assets.

While satellite technology continues to support climate monitoring and mitigation, there remain challenges to overcome. There is a perpetual need for higher-resolution sensors to detect change and emissions from smaller sources with greater accuracy and more frequent revisit times. Additionally, data accessibility, interpretation and insight derivation remain hurdles—many governments and organisations lack the technical expertise or resources to fully utilise satellite data for decision-making. The inclusion of satellite data in policy and regulatory standards is a priority, enabling better accountability, inform policy decisions, and drive corporate responsibility by offering independent verification of environmental claims.

Future advancements in miniaturised satellites, improved sensor accuracy, and AI-driven data analysis will continue to enhance our ability to monitor and mitigate climate change.

About the Satellite Applications Catapult
The Satellite Applications Catapult is at the heart of the satellite services revolution, driving the take-up of space technology and applications to shape, and sustain, the world of tomorrow. We are driven by supporting the organisations we work with in the space sector and beyond, both large and small, to bring new services to market. Enabling sustainability is one of our three core Missions.

Climate, Environment and Sustainability Programme activities

The techUK Climate Programme provides opportunities for members to present tech solutions that assist carbon emission reduction, circularity, and human rights goals. We also help our members with their own net zero transition, including measurement, implementation, compliance, and reporting. Visit the programme page here.