The 3rd Destination Earth (DestinE) User eXchange (UX) will take place from 15 to 16 October at the Darmstadtium Sciences and Congress Centre in Darmstadt, Germany. Representatives from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) will showcase the progress made withing the digital twins and the Digital Twin Engine components of the DestinE initiative.
Phase II of DestinE commenced in June with the system launch at a high-profile ceremony in Finland. The User eXchange event will engage the community to explore DestinE’s plans and progress towards the implementation of a full digital replica of the Earth system.
The EU-funded DestinE initiative builds on the knowledge of a large European network of leading European institutions and organisations and other key stakeholders from the scientific community, and public and private entities. The User eXchange meetings aim at bringing together those key stakeholders, sharing updates and progress and identifying areas for improvement, as well as finding ways to encourage additional engagement in DestinE.
Registration ends on 30 September for in-presence attendees and on 10 October for virtual participants.
This third User eXchange, hosted by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and co-organised with the other two DestinE implementing entities (ECMWF and the European Space Agency, ESA), is a great opportunity of strengthening the engagement and exploring new opportunities to get involved after the opening of the second phase of DestinE. Participation is free-of-charge, but spaces for on-site attendance are filling up fast. There are no limitations to following the sessions online (registration needed).
Phase I covered the preparation, piloting and implementation of all main components of the DestinE system. The second phase (2024-2026) focuses on ramping up the system towards operationalisation and intensifying the use of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (ML/AI).
DestinE follows a co-design approach, meaning engagement with end users from the start and collecting their feedback, needs and priorities, helping shape the ambitious initiative. The User eXchanges are important occasions for gathering this feedback among the community.
ECMWF hosted the vibrant 2nd User eXchange last year in Bonn. In Darmstadt, our staff will update participants about the progress of the implementations of the components delivered by ECMWF and its partners: The Digital Twin Engine, the Digital Twin on Climate Change Adaption (Climate DT) and the Digital Twin on Weather-induced Extremes (Extremes DT) and the Digital Twin Engine.
Day 1 – 15/10/2024: Presentations on the progress of the digital twins
The event will kick off with an introduction by representatives of the European Commission and hosts EUMETSAT and a keynote speech by Roar Skålin, President of Met Norway, who is expected to provide a user perspective.
One of the key sessions on Day 1 will focus on the achievements of DestinE so far. In this session, ECMWF will dive into the progress of the Digital Twins after Phase I, and how they will evolve in Phase II.
Three more sessions will be co-chaired by ECMWF scientists on the first day. Sebastian Milinski will co-chair the session “Climate Models and Data” with Nikolay Koldunov, Senior Scientists at the Alfred-Wegener Institute. This session will shed light on the Climate DT models by giving an overview of its main concept, simulations and learnings from Phase 1 and first examples of using simulation data in practice. Additionally, the session will discuss future simulations for the coming year.
Benoît Vannière (ECMWF) and Roger Randriamampianina (Norwegian Meteorological Institute) will co-chair the session “The Extremes DT a magnifying glass at Extremes Weather”. This segment will highlight the simulations of extreme weather events and their impacts, demonstrating how ECMWF’s Extremes DT magnifies the understanding of these phenomena. This Digital Twin aims to provide essential insights that help users in managing the risk of weather-related natural disasters and improve resilience.
Further showcasing ECMWFs contribution of the digital twins, the session “Interaction with the digital twins” will demonstrate how to interact with the digital twins and how the digital twins can interact with each other in a session organised by James Hawkes and chaired by Nicolau Manubens.
Day 1 will conclude with a posters session that includes many of the components developed by ECMWF and the contractors. The posters will also be available for online participants.
Day 2 – 15/10/2024: AI/ML and the broader digital twin landscape
On the second day of the User eXchange, the ECMWF-led sessions will dive deeper into the topics of AI and ML as well as the broader digital twin landscape. Mariana Clare will co-chair an interactive panel discussion on the use of ML and AI in the different components of the DestinE system. ECMWF, together with to ESA and EUMETSAT will present their current and future AI-related activities within DestinE, highlighting practical use cases. This session will underline the centre’s role in leveraging AI to enhance both the accessibility and the impact of Digital Twin applications and uses.
ECMWF will also take the lead in presenting the broader digital twin landscape, with Thomas Geenen chairing this session. Discussions will focus on how DestinE’s efforts intersect with other projects funded under Horizon Europe and national initiatives. The session will provide participants with an overview of how users can benefit from DestinE novel data to contribute to the wider European green agenda.
Promising exchanges for facilitating Phase II of DestinE
The event will conclude with a session co-hosted by the European Commission, ECMWF, ESA and EUMETSAT. This closing segment will provide an opportunity to reflect on the achievements so far and outline the next steps.
The 3rd Destination Earth User eXchange promises to offer a comprehensive update on DestinE’s progress and lay out future steps for collaboration in the second phase of DestinE. For on-site participants, the User eXchange also provides numerous opportunities for direct exchanges between the community through break-up sessions, hands-on trainings and a poster session to share the latest developments in detail.
The User eXchanges are co-organised by ECMWF, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).
Find out more about the first and second User eXchanges in our news articles.
Destination Earth is a European Union-funded initiative launched in 2022, with the aim to build a digital replica of the Earth system by 2030. The initiative is being jointly implemented under the leadership of DG CNECT by three entrusted entities: the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), responsible for the creation of the first two ‘digital twins’ and the ‘Digital Twin Engine’, the European Space Agency (ESA) responsible for building the ‘Core Service Platform’, and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), responsible for the creation of the ‘Data Lake’.
We acknowledge the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking for awarding this project strategic access to the EuroHPC supercomputers LUMI, hosted by CSC (Finland), and the LUMI consortium, Marenostrum5, hosted by BSC (Spain) Leonardo, hosted by Cineca (Italy) and MeluXina, hosted by LuxProvide (Luxembourg) through a EuroHPC Special Access call.
More information about Destination Earth is on the Destination Earth website and the EU Commission website.
For more information about ECMWF’s role visit ecmwf.int/DestinE
For any questions related to the role of ECMWF in Destination Earth, please use the following email links: