Search

SDGSAT-1, the world's first science satellite dedicated to assisting the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, has been operational for over two and a half years. It provides valuable data to aid in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals internationally. Through its Open Science Program, the satellite has maintained consistent operations and delivered free data to scientific and technological users from 88 countries. This program has produced a wealth of scientific output, with 72 papers, including 28 on data processing methods and 44 on applications for monitoring progress toward SDGs related to sustainable cities, clean energy, life underwater, climate action, and clean water and sanitation. SDGSAT-1 is equipped with three key instruments: a multispectral imager, a thermal infrared spectrometer, and a glimmer imager, which have enabled ground-breaking research in a variety of domains such as water quality analysis, identification of industrial heat sources, assessment of environmental disaster impacts, and detection of forest fires. The precise measurements and ongoing monitoring made possible by this invaluable data significantly advance our understanding of various environmental phenomena. They are essential for making well-informed decisions on a local and global scale. Beyond its application to academic research, SDGSAT-1 promotes global cooperation and strengthens developing countries’ capacity to accomplish their sustainable development goals. As the satellite continues to gather and distribute data, it plays a pivotal role in developing strategies for environmental protection, disaster management and relief, and resource allocation. These initiatives highlight the satellite’s vital role in fostering international collaboration and technical innovation to advance scientific knowledge and promote a sustainable future.

The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (B&R) aims at facilitating the twenty-first Century economic development of China. However, climate change, air quality and related feedbacks are affecting the successful development of the environment and societies in the B&R geographical domain. The most urgent risks related to the atmospheric system, to the land system and to hydrospheric and cryospheric processes are changing climate – air quality interactions, air pollution, changing monsoon dynamics, land degradation, and the melting of Tibetan Plateau glaciers. A framework is needed in which a science and technology-based approach has the critical mass and expertise to identify the main steps toward solutions and is capable to implement this roadmap. The Pan-Eurasian Experiment (PEEX) program, initiated in 2012, aims to resolve science, technology and sustainability questions in the Northern Eurasian region. PEEX is now identifying its science agenda for the B&R region. One fundamental element of the PEEX research agenda is the availability of comprehensive ground-based observations together with Earth observation data. PEEX complements the recently launched international scientific program called Digital Belt and Road (DBAR). PEEX has expertise to coordinate the ground-based observations and initiate new flagship stations, while DBAR provides a big data platform on Earth observation from China and countries along the Belt and Road region. The DBAR and PEEX have joint interests and synergy expertise on monitoring on ecological environment, urbanization, cultural heritages, coastal zones, and arctic cold regions supporting the sustainable development of the Belt and Road region. In this paper we identify the research themes of the PEEX related Silk Road agenda relevant to China and give an overview of the methodological requirements and present the infrastructure requirements needed to carry out large scale research program.

A general framework for processing high and very-high resolution imagery in support of a Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) is presented together with a discussion on the results of the first operational test of the production workflow. The test involved the mapping of 24.3 million km2 of the Earth surface spread in four continents, corresponding to an estimated population of 1.3 billion people in 2010. The resolution of the input image data ranges from 0.5 to 10 meters, collected by a heterogeneous set of platforms including satellite SPOT (2 and 5), CBERS 2B, RapidEye (2 and 4), WorldView (1 and 2), GeoEye 1, QuickBird 2, Ikonos 2, and airborne sensors. Several imaging modes were tested including panchromatic, multispectral and pan-sharpened images. A new fully automatic image information extraction, generalization and mosaic workflow is presented that is based on multiscale textural and morphological image features extraction. New image feature compression and optimization are introduced, together with new learning and classification techniques allowing for the processing of HR/VHR image data using low-resolution thematic layers as reference. A new systematic approach for quality control and validation allowing global spatial and thematic consistency checking is proposed and applied. The quality of the results are discussed by sensor, band, resolution, and eco-regions. Critical points, lessons learned and next steps are highlighted.

[Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]