Innovative approaches and applications on SDGs using SDGSAT-1
The Earth is facing challenges in sustainable development. Rapid urbanization, land degradation, water shortages, food security, frequent occurrences of disasters, huge ecosystem changes, etc., all call for systematic and innovative solutions to overcome them. Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015, the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda), with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), serves as an overall framework to shape a prosperous and bright future and to guide global development directions. However, some challenges, such as the lack of data, insufficient research methods, and uneven development, still hinder the progress of the global achievements of the SDGs.
Earth observation, with its unparalleled advantages in providing macroscopic, dynamic, and objective monitoring, brings effective measures to support scientific assessment and policymaking by providing spatially and temporally valuable knowledge on SDGs related to environment, socioeconomic development, and human activities. The successful launch of the Sustainable Development Science Satellite 1 (SDGSAT-1), the world’s first science satellite dedicated to serving the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, made a significant step in practicing the aforementioned ideas. More information on the SDGSAT-1 satellite can be found in the CBAS video. In the need for monitoring, evaluating, and studying SDG indicators, especially those representing human-environment interactions, SDGSAT-1 aims to depict traces of anthropogenic activities through synergistic observation with its three sensors, i.e., the Thermal Infrared Spectrometer, Glimmer Imager, and Multispectral Imager, throughout the day and night, providing high-quality data to facilitate the achievement of SDGs. To promote multi-disciplinary research on the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of SDGs and fill existing data gaps limiting progress towards SDGs, the SDGSAT-1 Open Science Program (www.sdgsat.ac.cn) was launched in September 2022. The data acquired by SDGSAT-1 will be available free of charge globally, underpinning the potential values of SDGSAT-1 in accelerating the achievement of SDGs. This collection focuses on recent innovations and progress on SDGs using data from SDGSAT-1 and other satellites to validate the effectiveness and capability of SDGSAT-1 for monitoring and evaluating SDG indicators.
Edited by
Dr. Peter Atkinson(Faculty of Science and Technology, Lancaster University)
Dr. Zongming Wang(Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)
Dr. Rosa Lasaponara(Italian National Research Council)
Dr. Evangelos Spyrakos(Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling)
Dr. Changyong Dou(International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS))
