Bridging Science and Policy: Standardizing Satellite Data for Climate Change Resilience
HASSAN ABOUSEADA, Egyptian Space Agency
This talk explores how standardized satellite data can serve as a cornerstone for building climate change resilience. It highlights the role of international standards in ensuring data interoperability, reliability, and accessibility. Bridging the gap between science and policy, the presentation emphasizes how standardization fosters informed decision-making, enhances early warning systems, and supports global climate adaptation efforts.
Hassan Abouseada is a Senior Member of IEEE, a Space Operations Specialist, and the Director of the Frequency Coordination Department at the Egyptian Space Agency (EGSA). With over 20 years of experience in space mission management, spectrum coordination, and ITU regulatory compliance, he leads national and international efforts to ensure efficient satellite operations and frequency management.
He serves as the Chair of the IEEE SA GRSS Study Group for Disaster Management and is an active member of the GRSS Standardization Community, leading efforts to standardize remote sensing applications for disaster response and climate resilience. Additionally, he represents GRSS in updating ISO 19121, a critical international standard for Earth observation and geographic information.
Hassan is also the representative of EGSA in the IEEE Government Engagement Program on Standards (GEPS) and actively participates in UN-SPIDER Expert Meetings, contributing to global discussions on space-based disaster management. His work bridges science, policy, and standardization, advocating for harmonized satellite data acquisition to support climate change monitoring, early warning systems, and sustainable development goals.Hassan actively contributes to global space governance, engaging with organizations such as the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), IEEE Standards Association, and the ITU. His expertise spans space-based disaster management, remote sensing standardization, and frequency coordination, positioning him as a key advocate for enhancing global access to critical Earth observation data.
Interferometric SAR and climate change
Michele Crosetto, Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC)
This keynote explores the potential of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) in addressing climate change. InSAR is a passive remote sensing technique used for generating digital elevation models and measuring land deformation. Here, we focus on the latter application: monitoring the deformation of land, buildings and infrastructures. What is the relationship between wide-area InSAR, say EGMS, and climate change? We identify three potential contributions:
• Landslide monitoring. Climate change is increasing the frequency and magnitude of landslides, particularly in alpine regions, largely driven by an increase in extreme rainfall events. In this context, InSAR offers a scalable, wide-area solution for tracking and analyzing landslide activity. • Glacier and permafrost monitoring. Monitoring glacier dynamics is essential for understanding how glaciers respond to a changing climate and predicting their evolution and future sea-level projections. InSAR has proven its capability in monitoring glacier dynamics and is also a valuable tool for monitoring permafrost dynamics. • Subsidence monitoring. InSAR is especially effective in monitoring land subsidence and uplift. This type of monitoring is very important in low-lying coastal areas, which are highly vulnerable due to the combined effects of sea-level rise, low elevation, and subsidence. Monitoring these changes is crucial, as such areas usually have a significant natural and socio-economic value.
Dr. Michele Crosetto holds a civil engineering degree from the Politecnico di Torino (1993) and a doctorate in Topographic and Geodesic Sciences from the Politecnico di Milano (1998). He has formed part of the Institute of Geomatics since 2002. Since January 2014 is with CTTC, where now he is head of the Geomatics Division. His main research activity is related to the analysis of spaceborne, airborne and ground-based remote sensing data and the development of scientific and technical applications using active sensor types. He is the coordinator of the Advisory Board of the European Ground Motion Service.
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Critical evaluation of projected global warming from GCMs and data-driven reduced complexity climate model
Ross J. Salawitch, University of Maryland, College Park
I’ll evaluate the projected rise in global mean surface temperature (GMST) given by CMIP6 General Circulation Models (GCMs) as well as our data-driven Empirical Model of Global Climate (EM-GC), which is a multiple linear regression / energy balance approach for assessing the flow of energy through the atmosphere / ocean system. The presentation will highlight how projections of the rise of GMST, for a given future abundance of greenhouse gases, is currently limited by the uncertainties in the radiative forcing of climate by tropospheric aerosols and climate feedback due to clouds. Data that can be used to assess clouds feedback within GCMs will be highlighted. I’ll conclude with a few thoughts about how future measurements can reduce the uncertainty in model projections of global warming.
Ross J. Salawitch is a Professor in the Departments of Atmospheric & Oceanic Science, Chemistry & Biochemistry, and the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center at the University of Maryland, College Park. He received his PhD in 1988 at Harvard University for a dissertation on the Antarctic Ozone Hole. Following a postdoc at Harvard, he spent 13 years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. He joined the faculty at UMCP as a Professor in 2007. Dr. Salawitch publishes in the peer reviewed literature on topics such as the stratospheric ozone layer, air quality, the global carbon cycle, and climate change. In 2017, he and his research group published a book entitled Paris Climate Agreement: Beacon of Hope, available via open access. He is also lead author of the Twenty Questions and Answers about the Ozone Layer document published by the United Nations Environment Programme. Dr. Salawitch is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the American Associated for the Advancement of Science.
observational insights into global methane emissions
Xueying Yu, State University of New York at Albany
Methane has a 20-year global warming potential 85 times that of carbon dioxide, making it a key driver of near-term climate change. Global methane levels have surged to 1879 ppb in 2020—2.6 times pre-industrial levels—accompanied by an accelerating growth rate (+10–15 ppb yr⁻¹ in 2019–2020) with unclear drivers. This keynote will explore methane emissions across scales, from point sources to the global budget, leveraging insights from multiple observational platforms, including aircraft and satellite data. By integrating these diverse datasets, we aim to enhance our understanding of methane sources and their implications for climate mitigation.
Dr. Xueying Yu is a junior faculty at the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, the State University of New York at Albany. Her work focuses on greenhouse gases and air pollutants, to address critical knowledge gaps related to land-atmosphere-ocean exchange, climate-chemistry interactions, and their changes over time.
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