Page 34 - Turning digital technology innovation into climate action

Turning digital technology innovation into climate action

An example of the ongoing use of ICTs to monitor the environment can be seen in the monitoring of
nitrogen dioxide levels over Northern Italy.
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3.2 Using ICTs to monitor food security, water transportation and supply 9

Climate change can have a profound impact on the quality and availability of water and food.
More frequent and severe storms, heat waves, droughts and floods, and worsening air quality will
disproportionally impact the poorest countries most severely. Consequently, ICTs are crucially needed
to address food security by monitoring food supplies across the world; this includes the mapping of
agricultural production and food shortages. The ICTs that can be used for this purpose include:

• satellites, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity
that supports remote sensing infrastructure, with high-resolution radiometers and moderate-
resolution imaging spectrometers used to monitor food and water resources (including sensors
and telemetry units that measure and transmit parameters such as air temperature, humidity,
leaf wetness and soil moisture over mobile networks to global databases).
• The PCs, mobile devices, servers, mainframes and network databases used for food security
mapping, and for the analysis and modelling of the data gleaned through the monitoring efforts.
Monitoring environmental and soil conditions and then using ICTs, including the Internet, to distribute
information to farmers and consumers can help make farming more profitable and environmentally
sustainable. Monitoring water usage and waste using ICTs can help improve water management and
the overall efficiency of its use, thereby providing significant water and cost savings and leading to a
more sustainable use of water resources.
Satellite imaging and GPS can be used to monitor the application of fertilizer, in addition to water. This
allows for more efficient fertilizer application based on local soil and climate conditions. Furthermore,
ICTs can be used to better forecast crop yields and production. This data can then be shared with
farmers to enable higher profitability and economic sustainability for them.

An example of the successful use of ICTs to monitor food security can be seen in the monitoring of
crop growth in Belgium.
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6 Cornu, Céline. ‘Italy's Polluted Po Valley Gasps for Fresh Air.’ Phys.org, Science X Network, 28 Feb. 2019, phys .org/
news/ 2019 -02 -italy -polluted -po -valley -gasps .html.
7 European Space Agency (ESA). ‘Nitrogen Dioxide over Northern Italy.’ 16 May 2019, www .esa .int/ spaceinimages/
Images/ 2019/ 05/ Nitrogen _dioxide _over _northern _Italy.
8 Bigi, Alessandro, et al. ‘Analysis of the Air Pollution Climate at a Background Site in the Po Valley.’ Journal of
Environmental Monitoring: JEM, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Feb. 2012, www .ncbi .nlm .nih .gov/ pubmed/
22170095.
9 Dickerson, Keith, et al. ‘Using ICTS to Tackle Climate Change.’ International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Nov. 2010,
www .itu .int/ dms _pub/ itu -t/ oth/ 4B/ 01/ T4B010000010001PDFE .pdf.
10 European Space Agency (ESA). ‘Precision Agriculture.’ European Space Agency, 17 Dec. 2018, www .esa .int/
spaceinimages/ Images/ 2018/ 12/ Precision _agriculture.
11 Encyclopedia of the Nations. ‘Belgium - Agriculture.’ Encyclopedia of the Nations, www .nationsencyclopedia .com/
economies/ Europe/ Belgium -AGRICULTURE .html.

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