Add your Insight

Big Earth Data (BEDJ) is actively seeking submissions relating to the use of big data science and technologies to contribute to the global policy priorities represented by the European Commission’s Horizon Missions and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), for a Special Issue of the journal to be published in 2022.

As discussed in a recent editorial in the journal: "progress towards achieving the SDGs will falter without data, and substantial challenges remain because of a lack of sufficient data and analytical methods to assess the progress of these SDG indicators. Currently, only 45% of the indicators are supported by both data and methods, which hampers the implementation of the SDGs. In this regard, big Earth data are gradually becoming the key to understanding the Earth and a new engine of scientific discovery. As such, big Earth data can also make an important contribution to assessing progress towards SDG targets by measuring and monitoring the associated indicators."

This special issue welcomes creative contributions that address both the SDGs/Horizon Missions as a whole, as well as supporting the response to these challenges at the local, national, and international scale. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Reviews of past and ongoing research work on big Earth data for SDGs;
• Case studies on big Earth data supporting SDG indicators;
• Comprehensive evaluation research on SDG indicators;
• Innovative datasets and techniques contributing to the implementations of the SDGs;
• Policy research on SDGS from perspectives of relevant governmental departments and international or regional organizations

This special issue is part of a cross-disciplinary collection in support of the European Commission’s Horizon Missions, with contributions from across the Life, Earth and Environmental Sciences. These missions collectively represent important research and policy priorities facing our global society. The collection will be published to be timed with Earth Day 2022 (22 April 2022) as part of a collaborative effort to support real-world research that addresses the SDGs and global policy priorities.

Important Dates

• Deadline for submissions: 31 July 2021
• Anticipated publication date: April 2022

Submissions should clearly indicate in the title and abstract which SDG(s) and/or Horizon Mission the research relates to. Find out more about the full list of 17 UN SDGs, and why these have been selected as areas of global importance here.

Please visit the journal's Instructions for Authors page before submitting your paper. Once you have finished preparing your manuscript, please submit it through the Taylor & Francis Submission Portal, ensuring that you select the appropriate Special Issue. APC waivers are available for some submissions at the discretion of the Editors, and authors who are interested should contact the Editorial Office ([email protected]) before submitting their paper.

Big Earth Data is a fully open access journal published by Taylor & Francis on behalf of the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE) and the Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences (AIR-CAS). All papers undergo rigorous peer review and are freely available without the need for a subscription.

For more information about Big Earth Data, and this Special Issue, contact the Executive Editor-in-Chief, Changlin Wang.

Instructions for AuthorsSubmit an Article