Our planet is warming up in a fast way and to prevent further damage to the ecosystem, scientists around the world are looking for solutions against the clock.This is how, on April 1, the EnMap satellite was launched, which seeks to monitor the Earth’s environment on a global scale. 

As CNN portal stated: “Space technology has long been used to help forecast weather, spot wildfiresand aide scientists’ understanding of the climate crisis. But this next-generation German satellite is being called a game changer for its ability to use more than 250 colors to produce the most precise data on water, soil, and vegetation in satellite history, scientists say.The Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program, or EnMAP, is capable of measuring things that would otherwise be invisible, from the degree of pollution in a river flowing through a forest to the nutrient supply within a plant”. 

In the words of the official EnMAP site: “The EnMAP (Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program) hyperspectral satellite is to provide new types of data on the state of and changes to the ecosystem on the Earth’s surface. Engineered at the OHB “Optics and Science” space center in Oberpfaffenhofen, the EnMAP instrument will be analyzing from space the solar radiation reflected off the Earth’s surface. It will record this data in a range from visible light to the short-wave infrared segment, as well as in continuous spectra.If you feel curious, you can learn more about this satellite on its official site.

And you can enjoy how it was launched, and how the EnMap took shape. These great changes and advances in history are being executed by people like you, who have the impetus to change the world. AIU’s doctoral and postdoctoral programs are designed to provide you with all the tools that will allow you to find that topic that you are passionate about, and together with your professional experience, get the most out of your research.

Find information about our majors/areas of study related to this topic; there are many ways to get involved and help the earth: Agricultural Engineering, Sustainable Development, Environmental Science, Aerospace, Engineering, Climate Studies, just to name a few of our majors/areas of study. 

As testimony to personal stories that have changed the world, we share with you the inspiring experience of AIU alumnus Kundan Kumar from Rwanda, a country in East Africa characterized by its verdant mountainous landscape. Although this country is only a few degrees south of the equator, the elevation provides a subtropical climate to the area, made up of two rainy seasons and two dry seasons.

The mountain landscape gives this country the nickname “land of a thousand hills”. Kundan Kumar is a Doctor of Philosophy and Ph.D. in Information Technology from the 2020 Atlantic International University class. For Doctor Kumar, information technology is a tool to be used for advancement and progress. Approximately 60% of Rwanda’s soil is fertile, making agriculture a pillar of the nation’s development. 30% of their GDP comes from agriculture, a significant economic sector that employs 70% of the population. 

However, climate change is threatening. Three-quarters of Rwanda’s crops belong to smallholder farmers, and natural disasters and drought menace the sustenance of the already vulnerable population. All these reasons caused Doctor Kumar to take a big step and join KUBERU, a multinational team (formed by nationals of India, Kenya, and Rwanda) that won the 2018 Design-a-thon Climate App Hackathon of Rwanda Meteorology Agency sponsored by UNDP. 

The project’s main goal was to develop an interlinked communication technology that would provide accessible climate-related information to farmers and agronomists, allowing them to make timely decisions for the plantations in the region. Doctor Kumar’s efforts are an initiative towards fighting big menaces for Rwanda, like poverty and climate change, contributing directly to achieving some of the goals listed by the United Nations in their 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

An informed and better future

The information technology system developed by Kumar and his team offers better chances for the farmers in Rwanda. The system tracks information and generates predictions on weather conditions and distributes this information with minimal effort to agronomists and farmers alongside the region. This way, the crop owners can make decisions to prevent unexpected disasters. The alliance formed by the UNDP and institutions in Rwanda for the 2018 Design-a-thon Climate App organization -and Kumar’s multinational team- are a great example of what Partnership for the goals means.

Also, by helping this strategic sector in Rwanda, Kumar’s efforts point to achieving the  Reduced poverty and Zero Hunger goals while also generating data for Climate Action. Using I.T., Kundan Kumar is making a change in the world. These great changes and advances in history are being executed by people like you, who have the impetus to change the world. AIU’s doctoral and postdoctoral programs are designed to provide you with all the tools that will allow you to find that topic that you are passionate about, and together with your professional experience, get the most out of your research. As testimony to personal stories that have changed the world, we share with you the inspiring experience of AIU alumnus Kundan Kumar from Rwanda, a country in East Africa characterized by its verdant mountainous landscape.

Although this country is only a few degrees south of the equator, the elevation provides a subtropical climate to the area, made up of two rainy seasons and two dry seasons. The mountain landscape gives this country the nickname “land of a thousand hills”. If you’re looking to learn more about this topic, visit AIU’s library, where you can find many interesting books about this topic.

We would love to recommend:

ClimateChange: The Science of Global Warming and Our Energy Future