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SPACE TECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 
D.P. Rao 
National Remote Sensing Agency (Dept, of Space, Govt, of India) 
Balanagar, Hyderabad - 500037 (INDIA) 
E-mail : director@nrsa.gov.in 
ABSTRACT 
Over exploitation of natural resources for meeting the growing demand for food, fuel and fibre of increasing population has led to 
serious environmental degradation. Sustainable development calls for utilizing available natural resources based on their potential 
and limitations. Information on the nature, extent and spatial distribution of various natural resources is pre-requisite for achieving 
the above mentioned goal. Spaceborne spectral measurements by virtue of providing synoptic coverage at a regular interval, offer 
immense potential for generating such information in a timely and cost-effective manner. The article provides an overview of the 
concept of sustainable development and sustainability, identifies sustainability indices, and through illustration demonstrates the 
utility of space technology in achieving and monitoring the sustainable development. Further, a glimpse of the future scenario is 
also provided. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
With only 55 per cent of the geographical area of 
the world, the developing countries carry 75 per cent of 
the world population which leads to over-exploitation of 
natural resources. Over exploitation of available natural 
resources for meeting the ever increasing demand for 
food, fuel and fiber has led to serious environmental 
degradation. Globally, an estimated 1,965 million ha of 
land are subject to some kind of degradation. Of this, 
1,094 million ha of land are subject to soil erosion by 
water and 549 million ha of land to soil erosion by wind 
(UNEP/ISRICJ991). In addition, an estimated 954.8 
million ha of land are affected by salinity and sodicity or 
both (Szabolcs, 1992) and another 3,600 million ha of 
global area comprising of hilly regions of the humid 
tropics of India, Manchurea, Korea, south-west China 
and Africa are under shifting cultivation (Schlippe, 
1956; Conklin, 1957). In India alone, out of 328 million 
ha geographical area, 150 million ha of land are affected 
by wind and water erosion (Anonymous, 1976). 
Annually, an estimated 6000 million tonnes of soil is 
lost through soil erosion by water (Das, 1985). 
Apart from this, shifting cultivation, waterlogging, 
and salinization and / alkalinization have affected an 
estimated 4.36 million ha, 6 million ha and 7.16 million 
ha of land respectively (Anonymous, 1976). Frequent 
floods and drought further compound the problem. 
Degradation by way of deforestation for timber and fuel 
wood, shifting cultivation and occasionally forest fire is 
a very serious environmental problem. Besides, another 
equally important aspect of the sustainability of 
vegetation is the bio-diversity that need to be preserved. 
Water resources both surface as well as ground 
water are very crucial for sustaining flora and fauna. 
Over exploitation of ground water and wastage of 
precipitation water as run-off are the major issues which 
are to be addressed in the context of sustainable 
development. In addition, pollution of water by mining 
waste, solid wastes and sewage need to be checked. 
Anthropogenic activities along the coast may further 
deteriorate the delicate coastal ecosystem. In the event of 
major climatic change, coastal areas are going to be 
affected more. In addition, exploitation of marine 
resources especially off-shore oil drilling and ocean 
water pollution due to effluents from industries, solid 
wastes and oil-spilled over from ships may affect the 
ocean environment. 
Apart from land and water resources, the natural 
calamity too comes in the way of sustainable develop 
ment. Drought and desertification exercise major control 
on agricultural production and other developmental 
activities. Advance preparedness is, therefore, needed 
for combating drought. For controlling desertification 
comprehensive anti-desertification programmes need to 
be developed. Lastly, rapid industrialization and 
deforestation have led to building up of greenhouse 
gases in the atmosphere which has resulted in global 
warming. C0 2 concentration has increased from 280 
ppm during 1850 to 350 ppm at present. Similarly, the 
concentration of methane (CH 4 ) has increased from 0.85 
ppm during 1850 to 1.7 ppm at present. Besides, 
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) with very long residence 
time (over 100 years) and nitrous oxide (N 2 0) have 
further added to environmental problem. The increase in 
the concentration of green house gases have resulted in