News & Events
CiROCCO leads the organisation of Townhall TM6 at EGU26, co-organised by the DEAL cluster and sister projects EULIAA, UAWOS, TEMBO-Africa, MISO, and RemoTrees.
On 6 May 2026, researchers, infrastructure developers, Earth observation specialists, and climate scientists gathered at the EGU General Assembly in Vienna and online for the Townhall Meeting:
“Exploring remote sensing and in-situ observations in hard-to-reach areas: Challenges and opportunities for understanding climate change impacts”
Organised by the DEAL Cluster and coordinated by CiROCCO project, the session brought together several Horizon Europe initiatives working across remote forests, deserts, rivers, wetlands, polar regions, and upper-atmosphere environments. Participating projects included CiROCCO, EULIAA, UAWOS, TEMBO-Africa, MISO, SYLVA, and RemoTrees.
The Townhall focused on a shared challenge across many environmental domains: some of the regions most affected by climate change remain among the least observed. Participants discussed how observational gaps limit our ability to detect climate change signals, understand extreme events, validate Earth observation products, and support climate adaptation and mitigation efforts.
Through a series of short lightning interventions and an open audience discussion, the session explored common technical and operational challenges associated with deploying and sustaining observations in remote and harsh environments. Topics included autonomous and low-cost sensing systems, power and communication constraints, long-term maintenance, integration of in-situ and satellite observations, and the importance of interoperability and open data practices.
One of the key takeaways from the discussion was that, despite operating in very different environments and scientific domains, many projects face remarkably similar challenges. Participants emphasized the importance of sharing lessons learned, operational best practices, and approaches for improving the resilience and long-term sustainability of environmental observing systems.
The discussion also highlighted the growing importance of combining in-situ observations with remote sensing and modelling frameworks to strengthen climate services, improve validation capabilities, and support more informed decision-making.
The session attracted strong participation both onsite and online, reflecting the broad interest within the geoscience community in expanding observations in under-sampled regions and strengthening collaboration across disciplines and infrastructures.
We would like to thank all speakers, participants, and contributors for the lively and constructive discussion, as well as the EGU community for the strong engagement throughout the session.
