Impact of Global Earth Observation – Systemic View across GEOSS Societal Benefit Areas1∗

The work of the Group on Earth Observation (GEO) is perceived as instrumental to attain sustainable development goals and to be a major driver of how the society–technology–environment system is managed. However, appropriate scientific methodologies to assess the benefits of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) and validate investments in Earth observation infrastructure have been missing. This paper presents a systems approach to measure and analyze the impact of Global Earth Observation across the nine Societal Benefit Areas defined by GEO. The methodological framework presented here was developed and applied to be complete across space, time and sectors through integration and aggregation. Apart from the general assessment framework, we present some specifics of the numerical tool, which is based on System Dynamics modeling and simulation technique. Our results indicate that though the total system benefits are strongly policy dependent, improvements of GEOSS per se and data availability and interoperability, the accrued benefits are large and have a great potential shaping mankind’s course to sustainability.