To address the urgent issue of climate change, the Swedish Ministry of Climate and Environment, the Colombian Ministry of Science, Saab, EAFIT University of Colombia and the Royal Swedish Institute of Technology KTH present a new Climate Change Combating UAV (C-3) project, which aims to facilitate climate research.
A successful collaboration between EAFIT University in Colombia, KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden and Saab has resulted in a new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of collecting data for climate monitoring. The project was officially launched on the occasion of COP16 by Romina Pourmokhtari, Minister of Climate and Environment of Sweden, Yesenia Olaya, Minister of Science of Colombia, Eva Axelsson, Head of Sustainability Group at Saab, and Olga Lucía Quintero, academic supervisor of the project at EAFIT.
The unmanned aerial vehicle will be equipped with specialized sensors and will be deployed to measure concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, as well as other pollutants and aerosols in the atmosphere. In addition, the UAV can be used to assess the health of the Amazon rainforest, agricultural lands and other ecosystems by detecting any changes in vegetation patterns and soil conditions.
By correlating these measurements with ground-based imagery from the spacecraft, the mission aims to complement existing satellite data. The ultimate goal is to apply the measured concentrations to large-scale mathematical and AI-based forecasting models that can help us better understand and manage the complexities of our global climate system.
“Contributing to the mitigation of climate change is one of the priorities of President Petro’s government, and with the project announced today, we are moving towards this goal of great importance for all. Monitoring biodiversity and climate change will help us anticipate and find scientific, technological and innovative solutions to the challenges this poses,” said Yesenia Olaya, Minister of Science of Colombia.
