Oil palm cultivation is known to be one of the leading causes of deforestation and degradation of the environment. This book introduces and explains the application of geospatial technology to an established and important tropical agricultural industry for responsible and sustainable management.

Oil palm cultivation is a significant contributor to the global agricultural industry, providing valuable resources for various products. While it has faced challenges, including concerns about deforestation and environmental degradation, it is crucial to understand the geographical distribution of oil palms to ensure responsible and sustainable management. This book introduces the application of geospatial technology to the palm oil industry, demonstrating how these tools can address key issues while promoting responsible practices. The topics discussed in the book aim to tackle challenges such as illegal deforestation and the monitoring of environmental impacts associated with oil palm cultivation. Key Features: The first book to explore the use of remote sensing and geospatial technologies for mapping and monitoring oil palm plantations Introduces cutting-edge techniques from the fourth industrial revolution, including the use of the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, big data and analytics, block chain and 5G technology for effective oil palm tree monitoring Addresses current environmental concerns affecting the industry, including issues like floods, changes in precipitation, temperature, humidity, and El Niño events Explores the scientific aspects of promoting sustainability in oil palm developments and the responsible conversion of rainforests into oil palm plantations Provides a wealth of application data for early detection and continuous monitoring of environmental challenges. This book serves as an insightful resource for those interested in geospatial technologies and their positive impact on monitoring and mitigating environmental changes in the context of the palm oil industry.

The sustainable development of the agriculture sector is the only option to meet the demands of increased and economically viable production in a changing climate. This means there is a need to introduce the latest technologies to enhance production, and also help policymakers make decisions for the future. Geospatial technologies & tools, such as remote sensing, geographical information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), and mobile & web applications, provide unique capabilities to analyze multi-scale, multi-temporal datasets, and support decision-making in sustainable agriculture development and natural resources management. Further, the availability of reliable and timely geospatial information on natural resources and environmental conditions is essential for sustainable agricultural development and food security. Since remote sensing solutions are fast, non-destructive and have large spatial coverage, they can play a significant role in the identification, inventory, and mapping of land resources. Over the past four decades, remote sensing has proved to be a cost-effective and powerful tool to assess crop and soil properties in varying spatial and temporal scales using both visual and digital techniques. Satellite remote sensing coupled with GIS & mobile-app based positional information has emerged as an efficient tool for optimizing input resources, and minimizing cost of production and risk of biotic/ abiotic factors nature to promote sustainable agriculture. This book comprehensively documents the applications of space-based technologies for crop and soil assessments for the sustainable development of agriculture.

This volume presents the proceedings of the 2nd International Conference of Geography and Geoinformatics for Sustainable Development (ICGGS), held in Phuket, Thailand, April 7-8, 2022. The collection focuses on the importance of spatial thinking and planning by applying geography concepts and geospatial technology innovations in solving global problems such as environmental degradation, urban pollution, and climate change. The proceedings consist of case studies on wide-ranging spatial issues in developing countries, addressing challenges in mainstreaming sustainable development paradigms into their economies to improve natural resource and environmental management. One of the main goals of the volume is to share and exchange different points of view regarding global, regional, and local spatial issues and how to use geography and geoinformatics for building resilience in multiple sectors, e.g., water, ecosystems, agriculture, and health. It offers the opportunity to learn about how geospatial concepts and technologies can contribute to environmental sustainability, while advancing education and research related to geography and geoinformatics. It will be a useful resource for students and researchers to initiate research ideas related to geospatial topics in regional and local scales.

While megacities are a reality, so too are the environmental disturbances that they cause, including air and water pollution. These disturbances can be modeled with technology and data obtained by modern methods, such as by drone, to monitor cities in near real-time as well as help to simulate risk situations and propose future solutions. These solutions can be inspired by the theoretical principles of sustainable urbanism. Methods and Applications of Geospatial Technology in Sustainable Urbanism is a collection of innovative research that combines theory and practice on analyzing urban environments and applying sustainability principles to them. Highlighting a wide range of topics including geographic information systems, internet mapping technologies, and green urbanism, this book is ideally designed for urban planners, public administration officials, landscape analysts, geographers, engineers, entrepreneurs, academicians, researchers, and students.

Key messages Several sustainability certification schemes have been developed for palm oil; however, the field impacts of these schemes remain highly uncertain. The Sustainable Palm Oil Production (SPOP) project, funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR), was aimed at consolidating and deepening the scientific basis of these schemes.SPOP field work undertaken in Indonesia and Cameroon highlighted the large variability in practices and impacts of oil palm systems. Our main results related to the uncovering of the multiplicity of growers and their trajectories, and identifying room for improvement and the need for recommendations adapted to the various grower contexts and strategies.The SPOP project made it explicit that visions of sustainability and global challenges vary greatly among growers and other stakeholders involved in the palm oil sector. These diverging conceptions are most likely to induce bottlenecks in the definition and implementation of good practices and should be accounted for in the refinement of sustainability criteria.Within the SPOP project, we investigated possible futures for oil palm using participatory prospective analyses and multi-agent-based modeling work. Our research work showed that capacity development and the organizational capacity of smallholders, fair partnerships and combined forms of governance are key drivers in ensuring the uptake of good practices and sustainable development at the landscape scale.

This comprehensive textbook identifies the emerging legal, policy, and ethical considerations associated with the collection, analysis, storage, and distribution of data that can be tied to location on Earth – otherwise known as “geospatial information.” Drawing on the author’s extensive professional, legal, and scholarly experience in the geospatial community, the book explains how these issues cut across both legal and technology domains and how they impact geospatial information management across the globe. While focused on the USA, the framework and analysis can be applied to other nations and legal systems. Key topics covered include intellectual property, privacy, data protection, data quality and liability, security, ethical issues, licensing, and the impact of existing and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, satellites, drones, software, machine learning, small satellites, and 5G. The book includes helpful features, such as a glossary of key legal terms and further reading, and is accompanied by digital supplements in the form of PowerPoint slides for each chapter. Geospatial Law, Policy and Ethics is the ideal companion for advanced undergraduate and graduate-level students of Geographic Information System (GIS), remote sensing geospatial intelligence, geospatial studies, and spatial data science courses. It will also be of interest to geospatial professionals employed in industry, government, or research.