SY006-07
Economic and societal benefits of Earth observations: Repository design, development, and testing

Monday, 7 December 2020: 05:58
Virtual
Crista Straub, USGS, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, United States, Karl K Benedict, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States, Pierre David Glynn, USGS, Reston, VA, UNITED STATES, Yusuke Kuwayama, Resources for the Future, Washington, DC, United States, Daniel Bednar, Canadian Space Agency, Montreal, Canada, Edmund Molder, Fort Collins, CO, United States, Carl D Shapiro, USGS, Reston, VA, United States, Joseph Conran, NOAA, Silver Spring, United States, Kartik Sheth, NASA Headquarters, Washington DC, United States, Alan Charles Smart, ACIL Allen Consulting, Sydney NSW , NSW, Australia and GEOValue Societal Benefits Repository Team
Recorded Presentation
Abstract:
Earth observations (EO) provide critical information about our planet – including measurements of physical and biological parameters. There is a growing body of literature characterizing how society uses EO data and quantifying its benefits to individuals, businesses, non-profit entities, institutions, and governments. EO data support a broad range of societal applications and benefits such as natural resource and hazard management, climate, agriculture, transportation, human health, environment, and navigation. The international Group on Earth Observations (GEO) has established the GEOValue community of practice to develop robust methods to measure these societal benefits. In 2019, the US Geological Survey and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration co-organized a meeting hosted by the European Space Agency (ESA-ESRIN). During the ESA-ESRIN meeting, participants identified gaps within the valuation of the benefits of EO community. Although there is a body of knowledge on the social, economic, and societal impacts of Earth observations, it is fragmented and does not allow a common language within the EO community. The US Group on Earth Observations (USGEO) Subcommittee also identified these same gaps in their 2019 National Plan for Civil Earth Observations report. Both USGEO and GEOValue advised similar actions – (1) Collect economic studies and synthesize the state-of-knowledge on the economic value of EO, including return-on-investment, ability to accelerate innovation, and contributions to economic growth; (2) Develop a catalog of ways to quantify the social and economic value of EO; and (3) Collect, catalog, and publish qualitative narratives and quantitative examples on the benefits of EO. The GEOValue community formed an international, interdisciplinary subgroup to address the advised actions. This presentation will report on the activities of the GEOValue working group including the design, development, and testing of the following: (1) repository of documents that comprise the social, economic, and societal impacts of EO; (2) valuation, societal benefits, and EO metadata categories to include in the repository; (3) hosting site for the repository; and (4) approach to synthesize the repository documents.
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