Geosciences for SDG Monitoring: Integrating Remote Sensing into Localized Sustainability Indicators
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Abstract
Measuring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) needs accurate and scalable monitoring instruments. Conventional statistics usually have limited spatial and temporal resolution at local scales. Remote sensing and geoscience provide effective, data-driven approaches to measure environmental indicators for SDGs. This research demonstrates the potential of geospatial analysis to enable localized sustainability monitoring in Bangladesh between 2000 and 2023.The study considers ways in which time series remote sensing data can be utilized to update four SDG indicators: forest cover increase (SDG 15), urban built-up area development (SDG 11), permanent surface water coverage (SDG 6), and seasonal NDVI as a proxy for agricultural productivity (SDG 2).The goal of this study is to demonstrate that remote sensing and geospatial analysis can be used in an effective manner to monitor and analyze environmental indicators with regard to the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) of Bangladesh from the year 2000 to 2023 on a particular basis for forest cover change(SDG-15), urban built-up expansion(SDG-11), surface water cover(SDG-6), and vegetation health or agriculture productivity(SDG-2) using time series satellite data along with spectral indices. The Remote sensing-based analysis presents the key environmental trends for Bangladesh from 2000 to 2023. Forest cover decreased by approximately 285 km² and urban built-up expanded by 210 km². Surface water area declined by a net of approximately 17 km². Health of vegetation, as indicated by growing season NDVI change, went up from 0.45 to 0.62. These spatial and temporal indicators demonstrate the application of remote sensing in monitoring SDG-guided environment changes. Remote sensing offers a robust solution for filling data gaps in SDG monitoring. But such indicators involve methodological standardization, sensor persistence, and ground-truth verification for operationalization. Integration of geospatial and socio-economic information is critical to the delivery of advanced, actionable information at local scales. This study highlights remote sensing potential as a component of evidence-informed sustainability policy.
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Publication Details
- Type of Publication:
- Conference Name: BURS 1st National Youth Research Summit 2025
- Date of Conference: 18/10/2025 - 18/10/2025
- Venue: University of Barisal
- Organizer: Barisal University Research Society