Sensing the heat, 2026

A speculative dialogue between ESA’s FLEX satellite and a plant to explore how planetary heat stress is sensed, translated, and governed. FLEX satellite measures chlorophyll fluorescence—subtle light emissions produced by plants under heat and drought stress, revealing metabolic strain before it becomes visible. These signals are imperceptible to human vision yet detectable through satellite instrumentation and visible to certain non-human species.

The project reframes Earth-observation data not as neutral information, but as a relational and ethical practice of sensing. It investigates how AI systems, orbital infrastructures, and policy frameworks co-produce knowledge about climate change—and how these systems shape responsibility and decision-making. Heat stress, one of the most uneven impacts of the climate crisis, disproportionately affects vulnerable populations and the Global South.

Currently in progress.