Toomas Toodu, from Green Cluster in the Pärnumaa region, elaborates on the ways Regions4Climate can utilise digital twins to build more climate-resilient regions.
The Regions4Climate project helps regional planning to take climate change resilience into account more than before.
In today’s increasingly interconnected world, the concept of a digital twin is revolutionising how we understand and interact with the physical environment around us. But what exactly is a digital twin, and how does it impact our understanding of climate change?
At its core, a digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical object, system, or process. It’s like having a digital counterpart that mirrors the real-world entity in almost every aspect. This representation is not just a static image, but a dynamic model created using data collected from sensors, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and other sources.
A digital twin is often augmented with additional information such as simulations or historical data, allowing for a comprehensive understanding of its counterpart. This can be very useful for understanding how climate change will impact a region.
One of its key components is its virtual representation. The digital model replicates the physical characteristics and behaviour of the real-world object, including geometry, structure, dynamics, and functionalities.
Data integration is another crucial aspect. Digital twins integrate real-time data from various sources, such as sensors, machinery, or equipment, to reflect the current state and behaviour of the physical object or system. This real-time data feed ensures that the digital twin remains accurate and up to date, providing a real-time snapshot of the physical environment.
Recently, Regions4Climate partners have had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the digital twin tool developed in cooperation with the Helsinki City Planning Department, the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council and Forum Virium Helsinki.
The Parnumaa region is working alongside partners in Køge Bay to use Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) to support transparent, science-based risk and vulnerability analysis and decision-making processes. These AR/VR technologies can immerse citizens in future climate scenarios and allows for an engaging and visceral encounter with potential climate impacts. By making the climate challenges present, personalised and local to people, they are far more likely to take ownership for and adhere to the given decisions. Furthermore, they gain a better understanding of their own and other regions’ challenges, thereby facilitating the local building of social and community resilience.
As part of this initiative, a network of weather sensors were installed in the City of Pärnu, which will help map heat islands in the city, and a landslide survey will also be carried out. These weather sensors measure air temperature and relative humidity, and will remain in place at least until the end of the project.
The analysis of data provides engineers and other stakeholders the chance to gain insights into the behaviour and performance of a physical object and make informed decisions to improve it. Such solutions are also becoming increasingly important in the development of smart cities, where they can be used to model and optimise entire urban systems.
By incorporating simulation and analysis capabilities into digital twins, it allows for predictive analysis and scenario testing. With the simulation of different scenarios, we can predict potential outcomes of climate change on the region.
If we were to trial methods of climate resilience in real time, this could use up a lot of resources and is time-consuming without much guarantee of success. Using a digital twin enables us to make informed decisions on how best to create climate-resilient environments and optimise this process without having to trial it in the real world first.
As part of this decision-making aid, digital twins will often leverage the IoT for data collection and Artificial Intelligence (AI). This integration of IoT and AI makes digital twins a powerful tool for optimising complex systems, enabling researchers to gain deeper insights, improve operational efficiency, and reduce costs.
Digital twins are transforming how we interact with the physical world, providing a virtual representation that enables deeper insights, predictive analysis, and optimisation.
With their ability to monitor, simulate, and analyse, digital twins are unlocking new levels of efficiency and insight, paving the way for a smarter and more connected future.
