The project is developing a web site with available information on the status of some indicators for the development goals of clean water and basic sanitation (ODS 6), sustainable consumption and production (ODS 12), climate action (ODS 13), marine life (ODS 14) and terrestrial ecosystems (ODS 15), as a strategy that allows the different states, governments and individuals to monitor through satellite information for the fulfillment of the 2030 agenda proposed by the UN in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
To identify the evolution of SDG 6 - Clean Water and Basic Sanitation, the following targets will be analyzed: 6.3 Improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally. Information collected in UNEP will be used to measure good quality water bodies focused on TSS parameters, Flux, Inorganic, Organic, Indicator Organism, Nutrient, Oxygen Demand, Phytoplankton aimed at the impact of Covid-19 on anthropogenic activities and its response to water resource quality, also proposing a demographic comparison to quantify the impacted population. 6.4 Substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity using satellite information of hydrological cycle parameters compared to industrial and consumption water demand to assess efficiency and hydric stress that becomes a priority in the face of current climate change.
For target 6.6 Protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes, assess changes in spatial extent of aquatic ecosystems, such as lakes, aquifers, rivers and estuaries, as well as their quality and quantity. In addition, it compares the strategic ecosystem areas with the protected area polygons, evaluating the will of governments to protect them.
In order to approach target 12.4, which seeks to achieve the environmentally management of chemicals and all wastes through their life-cycle in accordance with internationally agreed frameworks and to significantly reduce their release into the atmosphere, water and soil for the purpose of minimizing adverse effects on human health and the environment, it started with statistical information provided by each government to the different conventions and protocols, which according to the methodology assigns a score to each country based on its fulfilment of the commitments. In addition, to reporting the amount of generated, treated and disposed of hazardous wastes. Since the nature of these indicators does not require satellite image analysis, this input will be used indirectly to estimate the emission of aerosols and UV-B wave radiation resulting from the depletion of the Ozone layer, a problem discussed by the Montreal Protocol.
With information collected from different databases of satellite images and remote sensing. Target 13.2 is analyzed more specifically in indicator 13.2.2, which reviews total greenhouse gas emissions by year, interpreting different views where conditions such as air quality, carbon cycle gases, aerosols, solar radiation, among others, in order to determine the changes that have occurred in this ODS both before, during and after COVID-19.
As part of the information collected and as a basis for the analysis of target 14.1 related to the significant reduction of marine pollution. The database includes marine products, concentration of chlorophyll-a, organic carbon particles, inorganic particulate carbon, instantaneous photosynthetic radiation available, average photosynthetic radiation available daily, phytoplankton and sediments from which the behavior of these elements over time and their impact on the environment are to be analyzed.
On the other hand, as measures for fulfillment on target 14.2 focused on the management and sustainability of marine ecosystems. It is proposed to consider data related to sea surface temperature and the amount of chlorophyll present provided by NASA. For the evaluation of target 14.3 aimed at minimizing and addressing the effects related to ocean acidification, values of ph, dissolved inorganic carbon, partial pressure of carbon dioxide and total alkalinity of the sea should be taken into account. And finally, considering the target 14.5 based on the conservation of coastal and marine areas, the presence of corals in different marine areas is relevant considering the satellite coral reef monitoring and modeled perspectives, provided by NOAA.
To develop SGD 15, data is collected on land cover, habitat patterns, vegetation status, protected areas, and the progress of desert areas, among other data from direct sources such as FAO, Global Forest Watch, and entities such as NASA, Esa, Jaxa, by reading data obtained from multiple satellites and interpreting it using remote sensing techniques, focusing specifically on target 15. 1, related with forest cover, 15.2 and 15.4 which is correlating with the protection of biodiversity directly in 15. 2 and indirectly for the latter through which it is possible to estimate the areas available for the development of biodiversity.
In this way, it is possible to create a database that responds to the baseline status of these indicators, by interrelating and combining different sources or indicators in order to appreciate patterns of change or related behavior at Latin American level, and compare them with the post-Covid scenario with the analysis of MODIS, ALOS and LANDASTAT satellite images. The aforementioned allow users to have updated information about soil moisture, ecosystems such as wetlands, water bodies, vegetation cover, this analysis will be done by accumulating spectral signatures in the database, enabling a rapid interpretation of the data obtained from the most recent images from satellites.
As a result, a comparison can be made between the pre-covid scenario and the state of the indicators during 2020 and beyond.
The 2030 agenda is a challenge for any country, specially for the support and commitment that requires form every member of United Nation. There are 17 sustainable development goals, all of them, with specific targets that have interdependent relationships and make them more achievable in real life.
The goals represent the successful effort of numerous entities to change the course of future actions with the purpose of achieving sustainable development by working on the most important matters in our days. Knowing that the 17 goals are not separate to be achieve independently, the earth system observations acquire an important tool for achieving sustainable development in a global scale.
The vision for a better world involves economic, social and environmental dimensions that ensure the purpose of the 2030 agenda. One way to measure progress of goals is to focus on the “5 Ps” (People, planet, prosperity, peace and partnerships) that integrate the sustainable goals. The intention with this division is that progress on one P support progress on another. Therefore, the present project focus on Planet because the critical importance of climate crisis that the world was facing long before the COVID-19 pandemic and the way this new reality change the direction of climate change. Planet focus on goals 6, 12, 13, 14 and 15 that basically summarize the management of natural resources and the way to assert appropriate and proportionate consumption and production for ensuring sustainable development and the protection of our ecosystem.
The scale of the available geospatial data and the methodology of the specific targets, of the five goals, allow to face the challenges that the planet is facing due to COVID-19 pandemic and make their indicators compatible with the database available.
The aim of this Project is to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic has change the course on the goals in Latin America and Caribbean Region. The countries included in this region are: Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia (Plur. State of), Costa Rica, Honduras, Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay Nicaragua, Colombia, Chile, El Salvador, Uruguay, Dominican Republic, Panama, Venezuela (Bol. Rep. of), Mexico, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Belize, Guyana ,Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago ,Suriname , Saint Lucia, Barbados, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis Bahamas.
The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have made important advance in the 17 SDG. After 2015 the 2030 agenda began to be implemented in the region. Since then some trends can be identified. National government have linked their budgets to development outcomes toward the SDGs and create the forum on sustainable development ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean), where nations exchange experience and identify good practices to address capacity- building in the region. Also, the region has shown an increase in the number of national and subnational initiatives such as seminaries and dissemination of the agenda.
Studies such as system analysis exercises have been developed to identify strategic areas for national priorities. One important topic that Latin America and Caribbean countries has made progress is in aligning national development plans and the 2030 agenda. The links with national development objectives allows inclusion of territories and the financing initiative to achieve progress on SDGs.
The countries of Latin America have produced quality statistics to monitor SDG indicators through regulations of the production of official statistics which contributes to national statistical systems. Despite the advances in statics database, the available data cover a small portion of population and consequently most of the indicators include a few cases based on household surveys. The need of generate trustful indicators is a key to follow up the progress of SDGs and adding new data can contribute to measure more reliable results.
The data processing was decided to be carried out with Python, an open and free programming language that allows the processing of large amounts of data. The choice was made based on these two reasons, the magnitude of the information to be processed and the free nature of the code, as well as its compatibility and on the fact that it is frequently used in the processing of satellite images. All the produces data is supposed to be constantly updated, that's why it needs constant communication with the data suppliers.
The Sustainable Development Goals are guidelines proposed by the vast majority of humanity through the United Nations institution of dialogue, concession and cooperation. According to this premise, we can consider them as goals that we ourselves set to overcome the problems we have generated during history. Natural problems to which we will always be exposed and problems related to the intrinsic growth of human nature; under a realistic and achievable vision. The fact that we as a human species recognize the problems generated, force us to think of solutions and commit ourselves to correcting them through certain goals demonstrates a level of global awareness that could not have occurred in the past, thus allowing us to approach the goal of all working as one species in pursuit of a general welfare, while it fades the tangible and intangible boundaries which have divided us. Such progress called our attention and motivated us in choosing the challenge; we want to contribute in a new global direction focused on knowledge of its territory and its population, aware of its resources and the fragile balance in which life keeps its course, and threatened by a pandemic that has drastically altered human relations and systems resulting in repercussions on everything else.
Due to the fact that the Sustainable Development Objectives cover a wide range of topics, we decided to approach them from the internal categorization made by the UN, which distinguishes 5 central axes called the "5 P's": People, Prosperity, Peace, Planet and Partnerships. The analysis consisted in determining which P is more appropriate to analyze from satellite images and remote sensors, which concluded that Planet is the most suitable.
The data offered by the space agency are mostly baseline information on the project to be processed and analyzed through python programming languages, likewise satellite images and different governmental and non-governmental sources represent an input for the spatial-temporal analysis that is proposed. The dates and quality of information offered allow a more accurate and precise assessment for each variable that make up the indicators of interest.
By implementing the programming codes (python), we intend to carry out a map algebra, allowing us to consider the variables that compose the above-mentioned indicators for the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals. Additionally, the information collected from this algebra is presented in a concise and orderly manner in graphs and tables for the purpose of facilitating reader understanding.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Cca_vJENZj7d_EUy4cR-0AnpkjEV-MXV/view?usp=sharing
Goal 6. Clear water and sanitation:
Goal 12. Responsible consumption and production:
Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts:
Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use of the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development:
Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss: