European Space Agency

Digital Twin Component

Ice Sheets

The DTC Ice Sheets Project is part of the European Space Agency’s Digital Twin Earth (DTE) initiative, developed under the Lead Digital Twin Components (DTC) Development Actions for the Ice Sheets.

Our objective is to design, implement, and validate a pre-operational DTC focused on the Ice Sheets and Ice Shelves. This DTC integrates Earth Observation (EO) data with advanced computational modelling and stakeholder engagement to address critical topics in ice shelf stability, Greenland ice sheet hydrology, mass balance, and climatology. The DTC will address four specific use cases:

  • πŸ”‹ Hydropower (led by Lancaster University) – Predict climatically driven changes to freshwater flux from the Greenland Ice Sheet into the proglacial environment.
  • 🌊 EU Sea Level Response Fingerprint (led by Technical University of Denmark) – Simulate and predict the impact of melting ice sheets on sea levels within the EU.
  • ❄️ State and Fate of Antarctic Ice Shelves (led by University of Edinburgh) – Provide up-to-date reconstruction of Antarctic Ice Shelves and their interactions with the ice sheet, atmosphere, and ocean, and forecast their evolution.
  • 🌍 Enhanced Surface Climate (led by Katholike Universiteit Leuven) – Leverage super-resolution modeling techniques to enhance the monitoring and prediction of surface climate conditions over Greenland and Antarctica.

Consortium

The consortium is led by Technical University of Denmark (DTU) as the project and science lead, with partners including:

Technical University of Denmark

Project and Science Lead

Earthwave

Technology Development and Project Management

Lancaster University

Use Case Lead

University of Edinburgh

Use Case Lead

KU Leuven

Use Case Lead

The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland

EO-data Provider

Environmental Earth Observation Information Technology GMBH

EO-data Steward

ASIAQ Greenland Survey

Project Stakeholder