Copernicus is a European Earth Observation programme that uses remote sensing technologies to collect data on land, water and atmosphere. This data is open and can be used at no cost by various agencies, scientists, companies, public authorities and other international organisations to monitor climate conditions and natural phenomena and to improve the quality of life of people.
By combining data from Copernicus, and applying big data analysis and artificial intelligence techniques, guidelines can be derived for the integrated management and response of a company's climate risks.
Copernicus also has a large database of climate simulations of the future (up to 2100) that have been carried out using numerical models of the interactions of climate variables, and may cover the whole Earth or just a specific region. These models are called Global Climate Models or General Circulation Models (GCMs) and Regional Climate Models (RCMs), respectively. For these simulations, scenarios for the concentrations of greenhouse gases, aerosols and other atmospheric constituents that affect global radiation are considered. The Copernicus database (C3S Climate Data Store) provides information on past, present and future climate at global and regional scales. It includes a variety of data types, including satellite observations, in situ measurements, climate model projections and seasonal forecasts.
Most of the recent years' models are part of a more general project, called the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, with phases 5 (CMIP5) and 6 (CMIP6).
Some time ago Copernicus published a new future projection dataset, the "Gridded monthly climate projection dataset underpinning the IPCC AR6 Interactive Atlas", which contains 22 climate variables such as "Monthly number of days with maximum temperature above 35 °C", "Monthly average daily mean wind speed" and "Monthly average daily accumulated precipitation". The variables have monthly and annual time resolution for the historical periods 1850-1900 (pre-industrial period) and 1970-2005, 1950-2005, 1950-2014 (more modern periods). The future scenarios, for these variables, provide data for the period 2006-2100 and 2015-2100. Climate projections were made based on scenarios 2.6, 4.5 and 8.5 of the representative concentration pathways/pathways (RCP) and common socioeconomic pathways (SSP 1-5). Their spatial resolution is distributed at the global level using the CMIP5 and CMIP6 models, and at the regional level based on the CORDEX model, which can reach a resolution of 10 km2 .
These data also support the IPCC AR6 Interactive Atlas (IPCC-IA, http://interactive-atlas.ipcc.ch). The IPCC Interactive Atlas is an innovation of Working Group I in the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). Through IPCC-IA, spatial and temporal analyses of climate change data used in the IPCC report (such as maps, time series, annual cycle charts and model uncertainty information) can be performed for a range of key atmospheric and oceanic variables and indicators. Depending on the filters selected by the individual user, IPCC-IA can present relevant information along different climate drivers that can be used by policy makers, companies and other organisations aiming to better address and adapt to future climate conditions more effectively.
At E-On Integration, through our cloud-based RiskClima software for Natural and Transient Climate Change Risk Management, we use and process such climate variable data, past and future projections. RiskClima combines data from the Copernicus external database, performs the necessary processing with big data analysis and artificial intelligence techniques, and provides reports for integrated management and response to a company's climate risks. The software brings together data such as climate risks, opportunities, performance indicators, medium- and long-term forecasting models, mitigation actions, charts and reports.
RiskClima not only contributes to the mitigation of risks and the reduction of the economic impact of a business due to Climate Change, but also enhances the achievement of strategic objectives, sustainability and resilience of the business.