Skip to 0 minutes and 1 second (plucky violin music)
Skip to 0 minutes and 23 secondsWelcome to the ESA MOOC on earth observation from space. We are really excited you are on board with us for this journey.
Skip to 0 minutes and 35 seconds <v ->I think there’s a willingness among politicians</v> coming to COP21 in Paris to try and find a solution for climate change, because they can see the world is changing around them. There’s an agreement amongst the scientific community worldwide, there’s a consensus that we understand to a large extent the way that the earth is changing as a consequence of climate. The most fundamental contribution that satellite data have made has been to provide the basic data sets on which our understanding is based. They’re really the cornerstone on which our modelling, our prediction, our understanding, and hence, our policies can be built. <v ->Earth orbiting satellites are completely revolutionising</v> the picture we’ve got of our home planet.
Skip to 1 minute and 17 seconds They’re showing not only its great beauty, but also its complexity. We’ve seen from the vantage point of Voyager 1 in the outer reaches of the solar system how small and vulnerable is our planet in the dark blackness of space. Satellites around the earth, however, are giving us the fine detail that we need to understand the big problems and challenges we face in climate change and environmental change, and the rapid advances in technology are now giving us a much more powerful and comprehensive set of measurements than we’ve ever had in the past.
Skip to 1 minute and 56 secondsWe are in the midst of a data revolution. Which the launch of the Sentinel Data, we’ll get sustained observation for the next decade. And this observation will be really important to better understand our planet, understand processes, but also support decision-making related to climate change and monitoring of the environment.
Skip to 2 minutes and 20 seconds <v Alan O’Neill>The intention of this course</v> is to excite you about earth observation, its power and its value. It will set out the fundamental principles by which we make measurements from space. It will tell you about how those measurements are used. It will show you the kind of problems that earth observation can be fundamental to solving. And most of all, it intends to be inspiring and informative.
Skip to 2 minutes and 49 secondsI hope it will be a great opportunity for you to discover the value of earth observation, how we can use it in science, but also to support decisions related to climate change. We want to expose you to the beauty of the data, why it’s fascinating. You will learn about how to use the data in context with other data, how to process them, and how to make the most of it. And we hope this course will bring you a new perspective on this technology.
Skip to 3 minutes and 20 seconds So, looking forward to working with you in the next few months and better understand how to make the most of this data.
