Abstract
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) EO4MULTIHA (High-Impact Multi-Hazards Science), a two-year project contributing to the joint ESA European Commission Earth System Science Initiative, kicked off in September 2023.
EO4MULTIHA capitalizes on the latest advances in satellite Earth Observation technology, including the Copernicus Sentinels series, the ESA’s Earth Explorers, and the meteorological missions to better understand the drivers and dynamics leading to high impact cascading and compounding multi-hazard events, and to improve the estimation of the impacts on society and ecosystems.
The project will develop four science cases, tackling both compound and cascading events, along with the corresponding demonstration cases aiming to derive actionable information from the scientific developments. The outcomes will be part of an open multi-hazard events database designed to facilitate collaborative research and future scientific progress.
Science Cases (SC) 1 and 2 investigate the effects of climate-related extreme events in the Adige River catchment. SC1 focuses on hot/dry events on the Alpine mountainous region, where raising temperatures and lack of snowfalls cause hydrological impacts that compound with heatwaves and wildfires. SC2 evaluates the impact of climate-related extreme events on the middle-lower course of the river: data driven tools will be implemented to describe the interactions between climate-related hazards, coastal hazards such as sea level rise and saltwater intrusion, anthropogenic land use, and water quantity and quality parameters. SC3 is located in the Southeast region of the UK where the impacts of hot/dry compound in a scenario of sustained high temperatures and their effects on the stability of the terrain and geologically driven events will be evaluated. SC4 focuses on the small island developing State of Dominica to evaluate the multi-hazard scenario mainly from a wet compound and volcanic perspective (i.e., successive storms, landslides, volcanic hazards, and cross-border issues) using digital twins and advanced modelling.
The demonstration cases prioritize the following key aspects: the analysis of multi-hazard interactions and vulnerability, the generalizability, and the ability to handle spatial and temporal dependencies and the assessment of impact chains. The exposure and vulnerability analysis provides crucial information for effective adaptation planning and serves as a valuable resource for decision-makers seeking actionable insights. Generalizability refers to the ability of the proposed methods to be easily applicable to various settings with similar characteristics, ensuring that the insights gained can be widely utilized. Finally, the proposed methods should be capable of considering interactions between hazards, exposure, vulnerability and impacts in space and time.