Amazon-GEO

Project name: Methodology for SDGs indicators assessment

Acquirer: Group on Earth Observation

Project leader from Ukraine: PhD, prof. Nataliia Kussul

Period of execution: 2019 – 2022

Link to the program description: https://www.earthobservations.org/aws.php

About project

As part of the Amazon Sustainability Data Initiative (ASDI), the program allows remote sensing of the Earth and the creation of applications to support sustainable development, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, makes an emphasis on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and corresponding indicators that characterize complex interactions of human influence and environment state. Many indicators are based on geospatial information, and can be derived from satellite data integrated along with in-situ measurements and models, including weather forecasts, biophysical estimation and classification (machine learning) models. Therefore, there is a need to develop methods and tools that will allow derivation of SDG indicators as geoinformation products.

Purpose of project

Improve the existing workflows for SDG indicators calculation by the use of high spatial resolution data and filling gaps between existing global products and national ones.

Announcements of successful projects

As a result of the competition, expert evaluation and approval, the GEO-Amazon grant was awarded to 21 projects from 17 developing countries. This was made possible by the Cloud Observation Monitoring Program. The grant includes $ 1.5 million in cloud services and technical support. The winning teams get access to AWS Promo Credits to offset the cost of developing sustainable cloud applications using EO data. Grant participants also have support from the GEO community and AWS experts to improve and implement their projects to achieve the best results.