Summary
Destination Earth also known as DestinE, is an initiative from the European Commission of Ursula Von der Leyen. It aims to create a digital simulation of Earth with a digital twin that will be used to better understand the effects of climate change and environmental disasters and to permit policymakers more effectively respond to these issues.
The project Destination Earth embodies the wider scope of the Von der Leyen’s Commission. The project inscribes itself in the two-key priorities of the Commission which are the digital transition and climate transition, aiming together to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Integrated to the Digital Europe Programme and the European Green Deal, Destination Earth projects to create a digital simulation of Earth with a digital twin of our planet meaning an exact digital reproduction of the Earth. It will use an unprecedented amount of real-time data from climate, meteorological, behavioral, atmospheric sensors to develop this high-precision model of our planet. This very precise digital model of the Earth would enable different user groups such as public groups and the scientific and private communities to monitor and simulate natural and human activity, and to develop test scenarios in order to better predict the effects of climate change. With the current climate change challenge, this initiative is very relevant. Using DestinE modeling, the European Commission, as part of the European Green Deal, and also states will be able to evaluate the impact and efficiency of environmental legislative proposals.
Scope
DestinE will unlock the potential of digital modelling of the Earth system. It will focus on the effects of the climate change, water and marine environments, polar areas, cryosphere, biodiversity or extreme weather events, together with possible adaptation and mitigation strategies. It will help to predict major environmental degradation and disasters with unprecedented fidelity and reliability. By opening up access to public datasets across Europe, DestinE represents also a key component of the European strategy for data. Users of DestinE will be able to access vast amounts of natural and socio-economic information in order to: Continuously monitor the health of the planet: For example, to study the effects of climate change, the state of the oceans, the cryosphere, biodiversity, land use, and natural resources. Support EU policy-making and implementation: For example, to assess the impact and efficiency of environmental policy and relevant legislative measures. Perform high precision, dynamic simulations of the Earth’s natural systems, focusing on thematic domains such as marine, land, coasts, and atmosphere. Improve modelling and predictive capacities: For example, to help anticipate and plan measures in case of storms, floods and other extreme weather events and natural disasters.
Reinforce Europe’s industrial and technological capabilities in simulation, modelling, predictive data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and high performance computing (HPC).
At the heart of DestinE will be a user-friendly and secure cloud-based digital modelling and simulation platform. This platform will provide access to data, advanced computing infrastructure including HPC, software, AI applications and analytics. It will integrate digital twins — digital replicas of various aspects of the Earth's system — on topics such as extreme weather events, climate change adaptation, oceans, biodiversity and more.
DestinE will allow users to access to thematic information, services, models, scenarios, simulations, forecasts and visualizations. The underlying models and data will be continuously assessed to provide the most reliable scenario predictions for the users. The platform will also enable application development and the integration of users’ own data. DestinE will initially serve public authorities and will gradually open up to a larger range of scientific and industrial users, to spur innovation and enable the benchmarking of models and data.
Domains
- Extreme natural events
- Climate change adaptation
- Ocean
- Cryosphere
- Biodiversity
- Land use
- Weather
- Marine systems
Partners
- ESA (European Space Agency)
- ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts)
- EUMETSAT (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites)
- European Commission services and agencies
Link to website
https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/destination-earth