The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) has launched a new animation detailing its role in the European Commission’s Destination Earth (DestinE) program, an ambitious initiative to create a digital twin of Earth.
As extreme weather becomes increasingly frequent and changes in climate more pronounced, there is an urgent need to forecast these events with even greater accuracy, to predict their impact on the environment, life and property.
Using a vast amount of data, Earth system models and high-powered computing, DestinE will enable users to interactively explore the different components of the Earth system and natural and human-induced change. They will be able and to look at the past and present and to test and develop future scenarios.
ECMWF, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) are the three organizations entrusted with the project.
The initial implementation phase of the program will be completed by June 2024. It will focus on configuring, deploying and demonstrating the initial infrastructure building blocks that will support DestinE in its future phases. From 2024 to 2030, these building blocks will further evolve to enhance capabilities.
ECMWF is responsible for creating the software and data environment of the digital twin engine which is needed to power the high-resolution digital twins. It will also provide the first two digital twins.
The ‘Digital Twin on Weather-Induced and Geophysical Extremes’ will provide capabilities for the assessment and prediction of environmental extremes in support of risk assessment and management.
The ‘Digital Twin on Climate Adaptation’ will support the analysis and testing of scenarios. This in turn will support sustainable development and climate adaptation and mitigation policymaking at multi-decadal timescales, at regional and national levels.
To learn more about the DestinE initiative, click here.