Project Description
As journalists, we often aim to uncover the unknown. Earth observation imagery can be an effective supplement to paint a complete picture. Sometimes it even helps by making the invisible visible – like air quality.
When publishing about air quality, it can be a challenge to find an appropriate visualization – or any visualization at all. Air quality is not something you can see immediately, so visualizing it can be challenging. But it is not impossible – so let’s see how newsrooms cope with this challenge:
#1 Event-driven reporting – Powerful photography
Sometimes air quality is noticeably bad. So bad in fact, that it can be seen with the naked eye – as it happens regularly in India during the smog season. Under these circumstances, the search for suitable images for an article or video content is easy. We are all familiar with the images of cities with smog, where visibility is limited and people are wearing masks. These pictures are powerful. The same is true for forest fires and explosions – whenever the atmosphere is visibly different from the normal status quo, authentic photos are a desirable choice.
Figure 1: A selection of smog news stories from dw.com, showing that photos of smog in cities and people wearing masks are one way to communicate air quality visually.
#2 In-depth reporting – It’s abstract
Carbon dioxide, methane, particulate matter – when these gases are the subject of journalistic coverage, the topic is often related to climate or health. The subject itself cannot be depicted easily, but there are other options: It is quite common to interview experts such policymakers, scientists and doctors, and they can be easily pictured. At other times, specific locations as cities and landscapes are the subject of coverage and can be shown. Stock photos of vehicles and factories emitting air pollutants are also often used. But in all these examples, the visual choice is limited. Such photos are less powerful, as the gases themselves tend to be invisible.
There is an alternative though: Visibility can be achieved through charts. Although they are impersonal, they can lead to deeper insights. The production of charts is a daily business in most media companies. However, they can be time-consuming because of the need for careful data research. Charts are often found in rather in-depth investigations.
Figure 2: Two air quality charts produced in the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP24) in Katowice, Poland.
#3 Best of both world – Abstract but powerful
In view of the importance of visuals in reporting, sensor data may be another alternative to tackle the challenge of making the invisible visible. In theory it is becoming easier for journalists to obtain satellite imagery. In practice it is a skill possessed by a minority of journalists, often tech-savvy, working in the OSINT (open source intelligence) domain and data-driven journalism. The challenge is not only to access the imagery (e.g. through the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)), but also to interpret it. Atmospheric data are not self-explanatory. Very often these images have a scientific touch and appear to be complex. It takes expertise to translate the imagery into user-friendly insights. And when it comes to publication, the images need to be carefully edited for public use. But it is worth it: Using satellite imagery combines the power of the two options mentioned above: photos and charts. We think it is a promising way to improve air quality reporting, both as a research tool and as a visual tool. Making the data easier to explore and to use is therefore part of the work in CALLISTO’s 3rd Pilot Use Case.
Figure 3: Wildfire affecting air quality in wetlands of the Paraná River Delta, Argentina (summer 2022). Imagery was This image was acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites. Data for the 2nd image retrieved by the ESA Air Quality Platform and edited for user-friendliness
Project Details
- DateMarch 3, 2023
- WriterEva Lopez, Deutsche Welle
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