Microsoft-SFI research project could make us climate and land use knowledge leader

High-tech investigation of how land use can  reduce carbon emissions

Professor Tim McCarthy, Maynooth University, on Paddy O’Sullivan’s farm at Drumree, Co Meath, as Microsoft Ireland and SFI (Science Foundation Ireland) announced co-funding of the Terrain-AI project. Picture: Naoise Culhane

State of the art technology is to be installed at 14 sites across Ireland to gather insights and data which will improve understanding of how land use relates to climate change.

The installations will be placed on all types of land, grasslands, croplands, forestry, wetlands, peatlands, and urban areas.

Data will be captured from satellites, airborne platforms, as well as in-field instruments, using the latest multimodal sensing technologies, IOT (Internet Of Things) devices, and the Microsoft Azure Cloud.

The findings will be used to develop more effective policies to reduce carbon emissions, and future land use practices that will achieve reduced carbon outputs, such as, precision farming, carbon sequestration of grassland, new approaches to public transport, or tree planting in urban areas.

It is intended to share the insights from the Irish findings with other countries, to help them explore land usage and carbon reduction in their own jurisdictions.

The €5m climate change project was announced this week by Microsoft Ireland and SFI (Science Foundation Ireland), which is Ireland’s largest competitive research funding agency.

They are co-funding the new project, which is called Terrain-AI.

Cathriona Hallahan, managing director of Microsoft Ireland, said: “Microsoft has been carbon neutral across the world since 2012 and is committed to achieving carbon negative status by 2030.

“We seek to promote sustainable development and low-carbon business practices through the use of cloud-enabled technologies.

“Building on our recent initiative with Teagasc, and the delivery of Airband to help the farming community to stay connected, this project will explore how we can leverage technology to reduce carbon emissions across different land types.

“This is a great opportunity for Ireland to demonstrate leadership in climate change, as we look to share the findings and models developed during this research with our colleagues globally, so that we can all work together to reach our global carbon reduction targets “

Professor Mark Ferguson, director-general, SFI and chief scientific adviser to the Government, said: “I congratulate all of the partners for coming together to address this important area, the establishment of the testbed will create important knowledge that will assist Ireland to meet international obligations for carbon reduction.”

Ray O’Neill, vice president of research and development at Maynooth University said: “Maynooth University is delighted to lead this timely climate change project.

“Tackling climate change is about changing everyday work patterns, activities and behaviours. The Terrain-AI project will collect high-quality data, extract verifiable information and generate the facts to enable society make informed decisions about changing how we manage our climate and environment.

“We are delighted to collaborate in this landmark project with Microsoft and SFI, and our academic and industry partners, to help inform more effective and sustainable land-use practices to decarbonise our economy.”

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris, also welcomed the commencement of the research.

Teagasc, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, Dublin City University, and University of Limerick will have roles in the project.

Other key collaborators include the Departments of Transport, and of Agriculture, Food and Marine, and government agencies including the EPA, Met Éireann, National Parks & Wildlife Service, National Transport Authority, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, Marine Institute, and Ordnance Survey Ireland, as well as Dublin City Council.

Also collaborating will be Coillte, Bord na Mona,Treemetrics, Icon Group, Net Feasa, and Anuland.