Jan Askne, Professor Emeritus and Chalmers alumnus, is donating SEK 10 million to the university. The donation will be used to develop remote sensing of environmental and climate change. This is a rapidly growing field of research which, using satellites, provides more accurate weather forecasting as well as knowledge about the mass of rainforests, the extent of sea ice and other important changes on Earth.
‘As President, I view Jan Askne’s lifelong commitment to Chalmers and to science with great joy and deep gratitude,’ says Chalmers President and CEO Martin Nilsson Jacobi. ‘To crown this with a donation in this way is extraordinary and immensely generous.’
Research in remote sensing at Chalmers was established in 1984 by Jan Askne, a Chalmers alumnus who has spent his entire professional career at Chalmers, initially under the supervision of Professor Olof Rydbeck. Jan Askne’s donation will be used to develop remote sensing of environmental and climate change, for example through the funding of new instruments and the recruitment of researchers and doctoral students.
‘In the 1980s, satellite technology had emerged and could be applied to observations of our planet. Over time, climate and environmental change have made it increasingly important to gain an overall picture of developments. The first European microwave satellite was launched in 1991, and since then we have seen rapid progress in Europe as well as in the rest of the world. The donation is intended to support continued development at Chalmers,’ says Jan Askne.
In remote sensing using microwave technology, satellites transmit waves within the electromagnetic spectrum towards the Earth’s surface, where they are reflected back and received. When this type of wave is recorded over time, it can provide images of phenomena that are otherwise very difficult, or impossible, to study. Through microwave sensing, it is possible to observe, for example, the movement of large sea ice masses, the amount of biomass in the world’s forests and the properties of the atmosphere. Observations can be made day and night, and through dense cloud cover.
In addition to mapping long-term changes on Earth, remote sensing is already an important tool for, among other things, guiding icebreakers through the thinnest parts of the ice, detecting oil spills and forest fires, planning energy production, and making large-scale forecasts for weather and ocean currents – providing major benefits for sectors including shipping, forestry and agriculture.
‘Sweden and Europe are investing heavily in satellites for remote sensing and are world-leading in this area. Through his work, Jan Askne built a strong research environment and strong ties with the European Space Agency, ESA, which means that our research at Chalmers is involved in everything from new satellite missions to instrument development and societal applications,’ says Lars Ulander, Professor and Head of the Division of Remote Sensing at Chalmers.