Destination Earth (DestinE)

Over the past years, the European Union has been systematically strengthening its capacity to work with climate and environmental data in ways that genuinely support real world decision making. The Destination Earth initiative, known as DestinE, was created in response to this need. Its goal is to connect cutting edge Earth observation, physical modelling, and high performance computing into a single coherent framework that makes it possible to better understand, simulate, and anticipate climate change, extreme events, and their impacts on society.

Today, an enormous volume of data is available from the Copernicus programme, meteorological services, and research institutions. But data alone does not lead to better decisions. DestinE therefore functions as an infrastructure that connects these data sources, processes them, and translates them into forms that public authorities, planners, and expert teams can actually work with in practice.

What DestinE is and how its building blocks fit together

Destination Earth (DestinE) is a flagship initiative of the European Commission aimed at creating a highly accurate digital model of the Earth system in the form of digital twins. Its purpose is to enable the monitoring, simulation, and prediction of interactions between natural processes and human activities, thereby supporting decision making in climate policy, adaptation, and risk management.

Today, the first operational versions of the platform, the data lake, and two digital twins are already available. In the coming years, the system is expected to expand into additional thematic areas, such as oceans or biodiversity, while further increasing its interactivity and usefulness for policy making and practical decision support.

Platform, Data Lake, and Digital Twin Engine in plain language

The DestinE architecture is built on three core pillars:

• The Core Service Platform is the main entry point for users. It provides an environment for discovering data, working with digital twins, running analyses, and developing applications.
• The Data Lake acts as a federated data repository. It brings together data from Copernicus, meteorological services, digital twin model outputs, and progressively other sources, including socio economic and in situ data.
• The Digital Twin Engine is the computational and workflow layer. It links models, data, and computing infrastructure, enabling interactive simulations and what if scenario analyses.

From a practical perspective, it is important that the system is designed so users work with data close to where it is stored. Instead of large scale downloading, the emphasis is on online processing and on using derived data products and services.

The first two digital twins: extremes and adaptation

The digital twin focused on extreme events concentrates on the short term time horizon. It works with forecasts on the scale of days and allows a more detailed view of events such as intense rainfall, heatwaves, or strong winds.

Today, a global component is available that produces data on a regular basis, along with a regional component offering very high spatial resolution over Europe. The aim is not to replace national meteorological services, but to complement them by enabling targeted simulations and scenario analyses for specific situations.

What the digital twin for climate change adaptation can do

The digital twin focused on adaptation works with long term climate projections over decadal time horizons. Its outputs are used to assess trends and scenarios of climate development roughly up to the middle of the century.

At present, the first prototype datasets and sector specific applications are available. The goal for the coming years is the regular updating of projections and a stronger linkage with application tools that translate climate data into indicators usable for planning in areas such as cities, energy, or water management.

What cities, regions, and states can already use today

From the outset, DestinE has been conceived as a decision support system. In practice, its most common use cases include:

• assessment and mapping of heat stress in urban areas
• analysis of flood and hydrological risks
• inputs for planning adaptation measures related to drought and water management
• support for energy strategies and assessment of renewable energy potential
• support for crisis management and civil protection during extreme events

It is important to note that users will often not work with raw data, but with services, indicators, and map based outputs developed within specific application scenarios.

Limits and uncertainties: how to read the results correctly

DestinE does not eliminate uncertainty from weather forecasts or climate projections. Uncertainty is an inherent part of these models, rooted in the chaotic nature of the atmosphere and the climate system. This is why ensemble approaches are used, meaning multiple model runs with slightly different inputs.

High spatial resolution can be misleading, as it may create an impression of high precision. A detailed map is not an exact truth, but one possible scenario within a given range of outcomes. Proper interpretation therefore requires working explicitly with uncertainty and combining model outputs with local data and expert judgement.

It is also essential to distinguish between short term forecasts of extreme events and long term climate projections. Confusing these two perspectives leads to incorrect conclusions and unrealistic expectations.

How to use DestinE in practice: from data to decision

For cities and regions, DestinE delivers the greatest value when it is integrated into existing processes:

• risk and vulnerability assessment, combining hazard, exposure, and vulnerability

• adaptation planning and updates of strategic documents

• crisis management and scenario based preparedness for extreme events

• climate proofing of infrastructure and development projects

• building data strategies that link European and local data sources

DestinE does not replace local data on population, infrastructure, or social vulnerability. On the contrary, it relies on them and cannot function fully without them.

How ASITIS can help

At ASITIS, we are involved in a range of international innovation projects at the intersection of climate science, Earth observation, and digital decision support platforms. We see Destination Earth as a key European infrastructure that we aim to use to help municipalities and cities work with the most accurate climate data available and translate them into practical inputs for planning and risk management. At the same time, we actively contribute to the development of solutions and application scenarios that will gradually enrich DestinE, whether through sector specific indicators, methodologies for interpreting uncertainty, or by linking European level data with local registries and measurements.