Every year, The Norwegian Spacecenter (Norsk Romsenter) invites organisations to apply for supplementary funds. The aim of these funds is to contribute to strengthening the competitiveness of Nowergian space-related business in internation space programs and markets, as well as meeting national public needs.
This year, 25 organisations received funding, and Ruden is one of them. The goal of the project is to assess the viability of using InSAR satellite data as a monitoring tool in the hydraulic process of uplifting the island for safeguarding disappearing islands due to rising sea level.
As atoll islands are disappearing due to continued sea level rise driven by climate change, at a pace that coral is not able to adapt, communities in these islands are experiencing coastal erosion, flooding, inundation, and the loss of vital wetlands as aquifer systems are being reduced.
The UN body assessing the science related to climate change, estimates that under the current conditions the global mean sea-level is likely to rise between 8 and 29 centimetres by 2030, with a further rise anticipated of up to 70 cm by 2070. Millions of people residing in small islands face becoming "climate change refugees" as their homes are at risk of being submerged.
Applied science holds the potential to provide innovative solutions for addressing pressing challenges like these. This project will assess the feasibility for hydraulic uplifting of low-lying islands, using remote sensing as monitoring tool. The project will make use of existing satellite data and products but with a shift to applied hydrogeology for climate adaptation.
Related to this project, Ruden is accredited by to UN to participate in the Small Islands Development States conference, held in Bermuda and Antigua in May 2024. Ruden will hold a virtual side event to discuss the feasibility of hydraulic uplifting of low-lying islands. This is free to join for everyone who is interested.
Details about this event, and where to sign up to join can be found in this link: Sign up for Side Event UN SIDS Conference.
For background information on basaltic islands, click here
