Artificial Intelligence and Earth Observation in Support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Dear Colleagues,

 In 2014, a plan entitled “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Agenda 2030)” was proposed by the United Nations (UN) at the UN Sustainable Development Summit to fix global problems. It states 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs or Global Goals) to overcome the world’s challenges, including poverty, inequality, and the effects of climate change. Within the SDGs framework, there is tremendous potential for data produced by geospatial technologies to effectively and efficiently improve social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

With recent advancements in science and technology, devices are becoming more compact with increased capability. Computing platforms have realized high-level performance and the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and have been implemented in various fields. Similarly, earth observation (EO) has seen the frequent launch of satellites with higher resolution images in terms of spectral, radiometric, and spatial extents. The combination of EO data with in-situ measurements and the implementation of AI produces reliable geospatial information, which is essential for sustainable development policymaking, programming, and project operations.

Considering these advances, this Special Issue invites manuscripts that present innovative methods and solutions using AI and EO, which benefit society through the achievement of SDGs. There are no constraints regarding the field of application. However, we call for contributions that describe methods and ongoing research for the application of AI and EO for information extraction, monitoring, and implementation strategies of emerging challenges and future directions.

Related Reference:

1. Acharya, T.D.; Lee, D.H. Remote Sensing and Geospatial Technologies for Sustainable Development: A Review of Applications. Mater. 2019, 31, 3931–3945. https://doi.org/10.18494/SAM.2019.2706
2. Paganini, M.; Petiteville, I.; Ward, S.; Dyke, G.; Steventon, M.; Harry, J.; Kerblat, F. Satellite Earth Observations in Support of the Sustainable Development Goals, In The CEOS Earth Observation Handbook. Special 2018 ed.; CEOS-ESA: Paris, France, 2018. http://eohandbook.com/sdg/
3. Available online: http://eo4sdg.org/ (accessed on 15 April 2020).

Dr. Tri Dev Acharya
Dr. Dong Ha Lee
Dr. Myeong-Hun Jeong
Dr. Jaewan Choi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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