China releases world's first atlas of remote-sensing thermal infrared images

The world's first atlas of remote-sensing thermal infrared images was released at the 4th International Forum on Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals in Beijing on Friday, providing valuable data support for sustainable development research.

Released by the Beijing-based International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS), the atlas is based on data captured by the SDGSAT-1 satellite. Launched into space in November 2021, SDGSAT-1 is the world's first space science satellite dedicated to serving the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The atlas includes 10 different types of landscapes across 118 regions worldwide, presenting the surface features of rivers, lakes, seas, mountains, hills, and deserts. It also shows scenes of human activities, such as industrial emissions and urban changes, from a thermal infrared perspective, said Guo Huadong, director of CBAS, at the opening ceremony of the forum.

"The distribution and dynamic changes of surface temperatures on Earth are closely related to human socioeconomic activities, industrial production conditions and geomorphic features," said Guo. He noted that the atlas is significant for studying surface energy balance, climate change, the urban heat island effect, agricultural monitoring and natural disaster assessment.

Guo expressed his hope to strengthen cooperation with more countries, UN agencies, and international organizations to jointly develop and launch a series of satellites in the future to form a constellation. 

"Then we can continuously acquire valuable data of various types from different layers of the Earth to serve the sustainable development of all humanity," Guo stated.

Two additional atlases, namely the Collection of SDGSAT-1 Satellite Nighttime Light and the Atlas of SDGSAT-1 Satellite Nighttime Light Image, were also released at the forum.

The three-day forum aims to explore innovative solutions for advancing the implementation of the 2030 Agenda through digital technology. It will share practical experiences in addressing data challenges related to the sustainable development goals and help accelerate progress in the latter half of the 2030 Agenda.

(With input from Xinhua)