October 29, 2024

Threatened by Sea Level Rise, Tuvalu Safeguards its Sense of Place with a Digital Twin

By Dawn Wright

Rising seas are slowly swallowing the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu—and the country’s leaders are taking action. They are using a digital twin to understand climate impacts and preserve their culture.

Nine islands make up Tuvalu, home to more than 10,000 people and situated halfway between Australia and Hawaii. The country—on the forefront of climate action—changed its constitution to declare it would always be a nation, even if its islands are no longer inhabitable.

“We are looking at setting up the world’s first digital nation because we are facing the real risk of our land disappearing,” said Tuvalu’s foreign minister Simon Kofe, standing knee-deep in water while addressing the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP26) in 2021.

Digital twins come to life with a combination of imagery and geographic information system (GIS) technology. With the digital twin, decision-makers can analyze details about a place, its people, and the environment. The 3D model serves as both a record and a platform to navigate incidents and changes. It also provides a means to experience the place within virtual reality headsets.

Kofe’s speech, and the country’s commitment to digitize itself in case it disappears, puts the world on alert about the vulnerability of island nations. Many others, including Grenada, have adopted similar reality-capture techniques to face a changing environment and record what makes them unique.

Capturing the Whole of a Vulnerable Nation

Tuvalu is experiencing many climate hardships, including areas perpetually underwater, saltwater intrusion into drinking water, and coral bleaching. Because the depth of the ocean drops off deeply around the islands, the shores aren’t susceptible to huge waves. But the islands have experienced cyclones, which erode shorelines and destroy homes. With the digital twin, Tuvalu can assess the dimensions of these ongoing challenges.

The first step is to collect location-specific data and regularly update it so changes can be measured. In September 2023, on the sides of the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York, and with the support of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) Digital Earth Pacific (DEP) program, the nonprofit PLACE signed an agreement with the Prime Minister of Tuvalu to collect detailed data for the total land area of 26 square kilometers.

“The Digital Earth Pacific program enables decision-making for the Pacific Peoples through the use of earth observations. PLACE data enhances the program by providing highly detailed and accurate images that support Pacific nations in addressing climate change, food security, and disasters,” said Stuart Minchin, director-general of SPC.

In April 2024, the PLACE team was in the remote nation and collected images of Funafuti, the country’s capital. They used a drone to capture aerial images and a spherical camera mounted to a truck to capture street-level views. This sensor pod camera with five lenses on the sides and top can also be attached to a backpack for capturing areas that can only be reached on foot.

The PLACE team worked with locals to fly a vertical takeoff and landing drone to capture high-resolution aerial imagery. (Image courtesy of PLACE)
The drone team captured imagery from many places on the island, including at the end of the airport runway. (Image courtesy of PLACE)
After each flight, the Land & Survey Team reviews the flight path and data captured on a tablet. (Image courtesy of PLACE)
The survey ground control point team from the Land & Survey Department ensure location accuracy. Here they are standing in the harbor where sandbags have been used to raise the land above rising seas. (Image courtesy of PLACE)
A spherical camera mounted on a truck captured street-level images of the entire island of Funafuti. (Image courtesy of PLACE)

PLACE’s imagery data is processed to create 2D and 3D data products using ArcGIS Reality, a suite of photogrammetry software products designed to enable reality capture workflows for sites, cities, and countries. The GIS tools match large groups of images taken by cameras along the many flights and routes. This set of imagery data works together inside GIS to create a precise 3D model.

The resulting immersive basemap forms the foundation of a digital twin. From there, the team can add an inventory of data about physical assets, trees, houses, and infrastructure. Within the digital twin, they use the artificial intelligence (AI) technique called machine learning to automatically extract details from the images, such as building outlines and changes to the shoreline.

“The most exciting thing for us is what’s possible with machine learning and desktop computers now,” said Frank Pichel, partner and global field operations lead at PLACE. “The conversations we were having a year ago versus now are a world apart.”

With the digital twin, a flood model can be automatically created and overlaid with a population map. This awareness helps leaders assess changing conditions, engage residents in the crisis, and help everyone make informed decisions about their future.

The drone captured many raw images of Tuvalu, including this perspective that shows the narrow strip of land stretching to the horizon. (Image courtesy of PLACE)
The aerial imagery was processed to create a positionally accurate true orthoimage of the island. This image shows the southern end of Funafuti International Airport. (Image courtesy of PLACE)
The imagery was analyzed to detect such changes as new development, as in this image comparison from 2019 on the left to 2024 on the right on the northern end of Fongafale. (Image courtesy of PLACE)
Machine learning tools in ArcGIS identify changes to landscape and infrastructure on the atoll of Funafuti, from 2019 to 2024. Analysis reveals considerable changes in coastline at the southern tip of the island. (Image courtesy of PLACE)

Heightening Pressures in Low-Lying Areas

On every full moon when the highest king tide hits, the tarmac on the runway of Tuvalu’s only airport floats away from its coral base. Water bubbles up through the porous island terrain, pushing it above the surface. “They have to drive bulldozers down the runway to get it back on the ground before any plane can land,” Pichel said.

This regular occurrence illustrates Tuvalu’s precarious situation—at the tipping point of rising seas. A global study that mapped land elevation in relation to coastal flooding estimates that more than 410 million people will have to leave their homes by 2100.

For its future, Tuvalu recently signed a treaty with Australia that will allow 280 Tuvaluans to migrate each year on permanent resident visas. “It’s very sad to see that realization that everyone feels the need to have a foot somewhere else,” Pichel said.

With the digital twin, future generations of the Tuvalu nation will be able to experience their homeland even if it sinks. While this move ensures perpetual homecoming, it can also work in the present.

AI was used to detect installed solar panels on Fongafale, with over 200 installations detected. (Image courtesy of PLACE)
A 3D map with building height, roof slope and aspect was used to assess the potential for new solar panels and to prioritize installation on the most suitable housing stock. (Image courtesy of PLACE)
The data and derived analysis were presented and delivered at the Tuvalu government offices. (Image courtesy of PLACE)
The mood was sober as Tuvalu government officials gathered to discuss the data, and the need to create the digital twin to safeguard their heritage. (Image courtesy of PLACE)
Planting mangroves is one measure Tuvalu is taking to make itself more resilient to climate change.

Digital twins are being used to address the unique social, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities across an increasing number of Small Island Developing States.

As virtual reality technologies improve, people may be able to experience Tuvalu as it was—to delight in its beaches and biodiversity-rich reefs. They may choose to visit the digital twin regularly, not just to reflect but to center themselves on their ancestral heritage.

Young people gather for a swim as the sun sets. (Image courtesy of PLACE)

Mapping the Places Commercial Platforms Overlook

Commercial maps cover nearly every corner of the globe, yet they neglect far-flung, less populated or visited areas, such as remote islands in the Pacific like Tuvalu.

These regions often lack economic means, but their national governments need high-resolution basemaps. PLACE, a nonprofit organization, aims to bridge the gap between the private sector and national mapping agencies that struggle to create authoritative maps.

The organization is committed to making high-resolution spatial data available to national governments. It encourages these agencies to share data across departments and with the public. “Our focus is primarily Africa and small island states,” said Frank Pichel, partner and global field operations lead at PLACE.

PLACE enters into agreements with governments to fund the capture of high-resolution aerial imagery and positionally accurate street view data. The national governments provide collection clearance for drones and supply a local team to support the effort.

“We view it as on-the-job training,” Pichel said. “It’s also a way to ensure they are seriously vested, and that people are going to be there when we arrive.”

PLACE collects data and outputs high-resolution true orthophoto, 3D meshes, and point clouds—location intelligence tools government officials can use to guide decision-making. In exchange, participating countries share the data with PLACE members focused on research.

Dawn Wright

Dawn Wright is Chief Scientist of Esri. She works to strengthen the scientific foundation for the company’s products and services. Notably, Dawn led the team that created the Ecological Marine Units (EMUs), a 3D digital ocean that creates better understanding of marine environments and how to plan for more sustainable activities there in the wake of climate change. Dawn joined Esri in 2011, and has written and contributed to some of the most definitive literature on marine geographic information system (GIS) technology. An elected member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering, as well as the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, she earned her doctorate in Physical Geography and Marine Geology from UC Santa Barbara. In 2022, Dawn became the first Black person to visit the Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean, the deepest and most unexplored place on planet Earth.

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Threatened by Sea Level Rise, Tuvalu Safeguards its Sense of Place with a Digital Twin

Capturing the Whole of a Vulnerable Nation

Heightening Pressures in Low-Lying Areas

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